Minerva
by Baka Gaijin30
Summary: Repost. A "new Senshi" story with a bit of a twist. A tenth planet is discovered and a group of dark magicians want to reach its Senshi before the Sailor Moon and the others can. Shoujo-ai warning.
1. Chapter 1

-Minerva-

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters other than the original ones I created for this story.

Author's Note: Yeah, I know, most "new Senshi" stories tend to suck because they're all too Mary Sue-ish, but hopefully that won't happen with this story (crosses fingers). Anyways, this is a shoujo-ai story, so if that upsets anyone please read no further.

------

-1-

-Kanto, Japan, 1923-

The group of men and women reverently gathered in the castle basement, silently watching as four nude women finished drawing the chalk designs on the floor. The castle, dating back to the Edo period, looked from the outside to be dead at this time of night. The candles and incense burning inside, however, told otherwise.

As one of the nude acolyte finished drawing out the circle in the center of the room and a second was finishing up inscribing the combination of Japanese, Greek and Hebrew letters around a triangle drawn outside the circle, the other two women left. The group of men and women who had been observing all silently now began to disrobe themselves. As the last article of clothing was discarded, the two acolytes returned with large jars of ink and brushes. They began to write and paint talismans and other occult symbols on both themselves and the others within the group.

While they carried on their work with brush and ink, the first two acolytes stood up and left the rooms to obtain the tools for the ritual, returning a short time later with a small table alter on which lay a double-sided blade, a long wooden rod, and several small whips.

The oldest member present, a man in his late forties who was slowly balding, addressed his twelve companions.

"Ladies and gentleman." he began, an upside-down pentagram recently brushed onto his forehead in black ink, "What we are about to try has never been attempted before. We are about to attempt to create a dimensional vortex that will bridge the gap between the world of the seen and the unseen. Natsu here," he said, motioning to the young woman who'd just finished inscribing the last of the three other acolytes with the ink-drawn hieroglyphs and who herself had none on her bare flesh, "Has agreed to be the sacrifice."

All turned and bowed reverently to Natsu. The young maiden bowed back.

"As you know, the ancient Syrian texts speak of an ancient kingdom on the moon, and princesses who ruled over the planets of the solar system. Other ancient tomes speak of a future golden age when these young princesses will be reincarnated to create a utopia, and men and women will never die. We have waited for this momentous eon long enough! Tonight, we **force** the hand of fate. We will bring about the incarnations of the princesses through the ritual we perform tonight. So it shall be!"

"So it shall be!" the others shouted.

A half hour later, the circle was full of the sounds of whips smacking against flesh as eleven of the thirteen present, whips in hand, self-flagellated themselves while chanting ancient forbidden words over and over again. The youngest acolyte, Natsu, lay on the small alter with her arms and legs dangling off and touching the floor. As a steady spray of blood from the flagellators fell to the floor and the sacrifice closed her eyes, the High Priest held his knife high, staring intently at the now glowing triangle in front of the circle. With every painful lash of the whip, the others released more and more energy, willing it all over to the High Priest. A dark blue mist of pure kinetic energy began to whirl around the participants within the circle, as static electricity caused tiny sparks to go off and everyone's hair to stand on end.

Finally, as a small sphere of pure white light formed in the center of the triangle and levitated in midair five feet above the ground, the magus spoke.

"We command you open." he said, now gripping the knife above his head with both hands, "We command you , dimensional gates, open! We command you, _gates of time_, open! We command you open!"

A sudden downward thrust, followed by a high pitched scream, signaled the climax of the ritual. All stopped whipping themselves to look down at the sacrifice. The knife was still resting in her heart as blood sprayed out and ran in little rivers down her chest and arms onto the stone floor. Her lifeless eyes stared off blankly up at the ceiling as her mouth hung open. Members of the group then turned from the ghastly sight to look at the orb of light within the triangle, which was growing brighter and larger by the second.

The magus smirked at the orb as it continued to enlarge, "Oh fates, O old gods, we call upon you to..." he stopped when he saw something disturbing. The light, which was slowly taking on a purple color, was now expanding outside the confines of the triangle. A woman's form appeared within the light, holding a staff with a garnet orb near the top of it.

The others within the circle looked fearfully from the form within the triangle to their High Priest, hoping he knew what was happening or at least was still in control. The sheer terror evident in his face, however, left little doubt that he was just as frightened as the others. Trying to regain some measure of control over the proceedings, he stumbled over to where the wand was lying on the floor and pointed it at the apparition.

"I...In the name of... of the Tetragrammaton, I... I com... mand you, to... to..."

The woman scowled angrily at him and the others within the circle as she pointed her own staff back, causing the High Priest to drop his wand in fear.

"Dead Scream!" she whispered.

All within the circle were sent hurdling out of it into the back wall, the sacrificed young woman flopping like a rag doll against the wall and down to the floor. The circle, now broken, released massive amounts of dark magical energy which, combined with the woman's powerful magical attack, caused a devastating chain reaction as the ground began to shake and the walls collapsed on the magicians.

In all, some one hundred and forty thousand men, women and children died during the Great Kanto Earthquake of September first, nineteen twenty-three. Most were claimed by the earthquake itself, while others were killed by the fire caused by it. It is remembered to this day as one of the worst earthquakes in human history.

To this day, only one person is even aware of the story behind the disaster. And even now, after all these years, it still haunts her.

------

"Setsuna-mama, are you okay?"

Meiou Setsuna sat across the breakfast table from her adopted daughter Tomoe Hotaru and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry. I'm fine, I guess." she said, clutching onto her coffee mug.

Hotaru tilted her head a bit as she studied the Senshi of Time. "No, you're not." she said as she put her spoon back in her cereal bowl. She got out of her chair and walked over to Setsuna's side of the table. She gave her Setsuna-mama a warm, loving hug. "I don't know what's wrong, but I'm here for you if you need me."

Setsuna smiled affectionately at Hotaru as she returned the hug. "I

know." she said, "Thank you."

Just then, a doorbell broke up the tender mother-daughter moment, followed by the front door opening.

"Hello!" a familiar husky voice called out, "Where is everyone?"

"Haruka-Papa!" Hotaru called out. Rushing from the kitchen, she practically tackled the sandy-blond racecar driver. Tenoh Haruka, who was still holding onto two pieces of luggage at the time, practically had the wind knocked out of her.

"Oof. Hey, easy firefly. Wait until I set the bags down at least." she joked. As Hotaru let her go and took her luggage up to her parent's room for her, Haruka turned around to go back out and get more. Setsuna came into the living room just as Haruka's wife Kaioh Michiru entered carrying two bags of her own.

"Here, let me help you with that." Setsuna offered, taking the bags from the violinist. "So how did your third anniversary trip go?" she asked.

"Oh, where to begin." Michiru began with a smile, "We went to Australia, performed a duet at the Sydney Opera House..."

"That's funny," Setsuna broke in, "I didn't even realize the two of you could sing."

"Har har, very funny." Haruka said from the door. She was carrying two more cases in as Hotaru came bounding down the stairs.

"Michiru-mama!" she squealed as she hugged the aqua-haired beauty. "How was your trip?"

"I was just telling Setsuna-mama here all about it. We played a concert, went on a tour of the outback, and had a romantic weekend at the hotel we stayed at."

"And we received a rather interesting call from Ami." Haruka added.

Both Setsuna and Hotaru noted the change in tone of Haruka's voice. "Papa?" Hotaru asked tentatively, "What is it, what's wrong?"

"She called to inform us about a recent press conference presided over by something called the International Astronomical Union." Michiru said in a low tone, "Apparently, they believe they've discovered a tenth planet."

-To be continued-


	2. Chapter 2

-Minerva-

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters other than the original ones I created for this story.

------

-2-

There were three great magical workings in the early twentieth century.

There was the Amalantrah Working presided over by "The Beast," Aleister Crowley, in 1918. In the ritual, Crowley and the members of the Ordo Templi Orientalis attempted to open a portal into another reality to contact higher intelligences. The participants in the ritual all claimed to have seen and heard a being calling itself "Lam." The drawing Crowley later drew of the creature looked remarkably like the later descriptions of "greys" given by UFO abductees.

Later, in 1946, a protégé of Aleister Crowley named Jack Parsons, along with friend and science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard performed a ritual that has come to be known as the Babylon Working. In the ritual the two, along with a "scarlet woman" who'd volunteered herself, tried to bring about a physical manifestation of Babylon, the Divine Feminine. Whether they succeeded or not has never been proven…

It was neither of those two workings that brought the shapely blond Katsu Beniko and her partner to the Tokyo University campus, though. It was the third, the apocryphal "Kanto Working," presided over by the maverick occultist Shimada Shintaro. The failed ritual has attained a legendary status among occultists; a quest for the princesses who ruled the solar system and the utopia they were supposed to bring that culminated in the ritual being interrupted by the Great Kanto Earthquake. Most occultists simply dismissed it as an urban myth.

Not Beniko. She knew better.

She had a book that had somehow survived the earthquake in Shintaro's own handwriting which detailed how the ritual was to have been performed.

Entering the science building, she and her red-haired partner Ozawa Marika headed for Professor Miyagawa's lab. The Professor looked up at the two attractive young women through his wire-rimmed glasses and smiled.

"Good afternoon, ladies." he said. Marika, her green skirt and black pumps just visible beneath her leather jacket, silently nodded as Beniko spoke for them both.

"Have you finished with the devise?" she asked.

"Yes, but just barely. For obvious reasons, I've been unable to test it, and I have no idea how long it will last."

Beniko was troubled a bit, "What's your best estimate at how long we have?"

"Ten minutes. Fifteen tops. Afterwards, it'll need at least twenty-four hours to recharge."

Marika, listening and observing all, frowned slightly. She and Beniko had gone through the notes left behind by Shimada with a fine toothed comb. Each time they reread it, it became increasingly apparent to the two that he had made a grave error by commanding the opening of the Gates of Time. An entity was known by Kabbalists and other adepts to guard the timegate. An entity that the magus was ill-equipped to deal with.

Luckily, Marika and Beniko had something on their side that Shimada didn't.

A mad scientist.

"Ten minutes will have to do." Beniko finally said. "We'll have to rush the ritual a bit at that point, but there's not much choice. There's no more time. They'll be on the lookout for her now as well."

The scientist looked at her askance. "What do you mean? What's happened?"

Marika reached into her leather jacket and pulled out a copy of _The Tokyo Times_. The large headline caused the blood to drain from the professor's face.

"Existence of Tenth Planet Confirmed."

-------

Hino Rei had not had much sleep within the last twenty-four hours.

She'd sensed menaces before. She could still remember the dreams foretelling the possible rise of the Messiah of Silence. She'd been able to predict upcoming menaces in the past.

But she'd never sensed anything like _this_.

Ami had told her and the others that there would be a meeting shortly after Hotaru got out of school at the Outer Senshi's house. A tenth planet had been discovered. As Rei continued to stare into the fires, frustration began to set in. Other than the overwhelming feeling of dread, she couldn't focus in on the source of the upcoming menace.

With a sigh of resignation, she got up. In another four hours Hotaru would be home, and in five she would be over to her house. She'd done all she could on her end, hopefully either Michiru or Setsuna could shed some light on what was possibly happening. She warily left the shrine to shower and change into street clothes. While she couldn't pinpoint the menace, she was sure of one thing; the timing of the threat coincided with the discovery of the tenth planet.

The two were connected. But how?

------

The woman faced the board in front of her, chalk in hand, as she started writing dates and names up on it. Finally satisfied with what she'd written, she stood off to the side so the others in the room could read it. She turned to them.

"Now then, who wants to answer the question about the beginning of the Edo period? Anyone?"

A chorus of hands went up in the classroom. Looking around, she smiled as she picked out one of the more energetic young men in the second row.

"Yes... Akikazu-san." she said, pointing at the young man with the chalk she was clutching in her hands, "Who was the shogun who ushered in the Edo period?"

The student in question stood up from his chair, "Leyasu, who established the Tokugawa government in Edo, Saito-sensei."

Saito Kihomi smiled at the young man. "Very good. You may sit back

down." she said. As she began to go over the highlights of Leyasu's reign as shogun, she mused on how lucky she was to have landed this teaching job so soon after college. The brunet was quite young (twenty-six, in fact), and looked even younger. While she was quite attractive, she sometimes wished she didn't receive so many invites from her colleagues in the teachers lounge out to dinner. Most of them were far older than her.

Besides, she didn't go for men.

Her fellow teachers weren't nearly as difficult to handle, however, as the student crushes she'd been dealing with since beginning her tenure at the school the previous fall. Luckily, some of the other female staff had given her some invaluable advice on the subject, and all had been going well so far. It was a bit of a balancing act, but so far she'd succeeded in politely sidestepping any of her potential "suitors" without having to leave the closet.

Just as she was starting to delve into the destruction of the Toyotomi clan in 1615, the bell rang for lunch period.

"We'll continue on Monday." Kihomi called out, "Remember to read pages three hundred to three hundred and fifteen by Monday. Oh, and Tomoe-san, could you please stay after class?"

Hotaru looked at her teacher with a puzzled expression, "Sensei?"

"Yes, please stay a few minutes." the teacher repeated.

As the last of the students left, Hotaru watched nervously as Saito-sensei shut the door and turned back to her. She saw her teacher cross her arms as she looked at her, a worried expression evident in her grey eyes.

"Tomoe-san... may I call you Hotaru?"

Hotaru slowly nodded her head, "Yes, of course sensei." she answered a bit apprehensively.

"Hotaru, is everything okay at home?" Kihomi asked.

Hotaru studied her teacher, trying to figure out what to make of the question. "Yes sensei, why?"

"You get along okay with your adoptive parents then?"

"Of course."

"Any siblings? You know, annoying older brothers or sisters?"

"No, sensei. I'm an only child."

"Hotaru, is there someone who's bullying you? For your lunch money perhaps? Or because your adoptive parents are somewhat wealthy?"

Hotaru was now completely baffled as to what her teacher was trying to get at. "Sensei, why are you asking me all this?" she finally asked.

Kihomi pointed to a small adhesive bandage above her right eye. "Because of this." she answered, "And the black eye you had about a month ago, and the black and blue mark on your arm before that. Hotaru, are you in some sort of trouble?"

Hotaru breathed a sigh of relief as she realized she wasn't in trouble; the teacher was simply concerned for her well-being. The bandage was from a fight with a youma in the city park. The earlier black eye from an altercation with one in a mall, and the mark on her arm had been left after a rather nasty enemy had sent her careening into Usagi in a battle outside an ice cream parlor.

As she looked once again into the concerned grey eyes of her teacher however, Hotaru realized she'd better come up with a logical explanation for her bruises quickly.

"Well, actually, um... I've been taking self-defense lessons, sensei."

Kihomi raised her eyebrow at that. "'Self-defense lessons?'" she asked skeptically.

"Yes sensei, the classes are given by a family friend, Kino Makoto. We use padding and try to stay safe, but sometimes accidents do happen, of course."

Kihomi studied her for a few seconds. "I see." she said finally. "Very well, you may leave."

Hotaru started to walk to the door, but stopped when she reached the doorknob. "Sensei." she said, turning back to her teacher.

"Yes Hotaru?" Kihomi asked.

"I... Well, nothing is going on. Honestly. But... But thank you for caring enough to check up."

Kihomi smiled warmly at her student. "Of course. Just remember; if you ever _do_ need someone to talk to, I'm here."

Hotaru returned the smile before she exited the door and left for lunch. Kihomi turned back to her desk to prepare for her next class.

------

"May I ask you a question?"

Marika turned to the speaker, a young man in his mid-twenties with a nose ring. She stared at him intently, her face betraying no emotion. The man began to become uncomfortable under her gaze.

"I, um... well, that is... You have a Japanese name, but you're not Japanese. I was just wondering, um, why..." he stopped when he realized the redhead with the short hair wasn't going to answer him. He turned uncomfortably away from her and walked away.

On the other side of the room, another man watched on uneasily as the exchange took place.

"Professor Miyagawa, is the devise ready?"

Miyagawa turned to the speaker, Beniko, and nodded. The young blond noted the professor's unease.

"Is there something wrong with the device?" she asked.

The professor shook his head. "No, nothing. It'll work just like I promised."

Beniko smiled gleefully. The device took up almost all of the spare room outside the main circle, which was why they were renting the warehouse during the five-day ritual. The huge device, when activated, would create a steady stream of negatively charged ion particles. Once the ritual reached its climax, the professor would flick a switch, causing a mini time warp. The subatomic particles would then begin to be sent backward in time. A built-in randomizer would cause the warp to constantly shift every ten seconds. Each time the randomizer activated, the particles would be sent backward to a different time. It could be a hundred years ago, thirty seconds in the past, or even the dawn of time.

It was an amazing technical and scientific achievement.

It was also one of the largest red herrings in human history.

If there was a time guardian, the machine would hopefully keep it distracted on a wild goose chase through time long enough for the ritualists to gain access to the time gate. Unfortunately, they would have only ten minutes in which to do so.

Beniko turned her smiling continence away from the marvelous device back to the still nervous face of Professor Miyagawa.

"Professor, if the device looks like it's going to function properly, what's the problem?"

"_Her_." The professor answered, indicating Beniko's partner Marika. Beniko frowned.

"What about her?" she asked.

"Katsu-sama, the ritual the two of you will be performing tonight, it's a sex-rite."

Beniko raised her eyebrow, "So?"

"So, **look **at her. She doesn't look a day over sixteen, seventeen tops."

The blond smiled at the professor, "She's older than she looks, professor. Far older." she answered. She would've said more, but Marika gave her a stern look of warning from the other side of the room.

"Another thing." the professor added, "On the fifth night, the ritual calls for human blood. We don't have a sacrifice yet."

Beniko smiled, "Don't worry, professor. When the time comes, we'll have a victim."

Before the professor could ask any more questions, the rest of the group entered the warehouse. Most, never having seen Professor Miyagawa's large machine, stared in awe at the vacuum chamber, the wires and tubes running in and out of it, and the monstrous size of it all. The professor went to enter the huge circle drawn around the contraption as Beniko addressed the group.

"Ladies and gentleman," she began, "Eighty-three years ago, a ritual was attempted to force the manifestation of the Princesses who rule over the solar system. As you're all well aware, the ritual was a failure, interrupted as it was by the Kanto earthquake. Also, it is believed by many that the Princesses are now among us, and are in fact the heroes known as the 'Sailor Senshi.'"

"There are nine Senshi in total. If they are in fact the Princesses, then according to ancient Inca and Innuit folklore which speak of a tenth planet, there must be a tenth Senshi out there somewhere. We intend, through this working, to bring about her manifestation and bring about her subjugation to our collective wills. Theoretically, the fact that her planet is the farthestmost would make her one of the most powerful. With such a being under our control, the possibilities are limitless."

"Up until now, we've been able to safely take our time; the tenth planet was considered little more than a myth, and no one else would appear to be on the lookout for either it or its Senshi. Unfortunately, that has all changed. The world at large now knows of its existence."

------

"It was discovered in two thousand and four." Ami said, addressing the Inner and Outer Senshi in the room. "Its discoverers initially named it "Sedna" after an Inuit sea-goddess, but it was later nicknamed "Xena" by one of the discoverers who was a fan of the American show. In October of last year, a moon was discovered rotating around the object..."

"Usagi." Rei whispered as she elbowed the blond next to her. "Stay awake, this is important."

"(yawn) But science is so _dull_." Usagi complained.

"Usagi." Makoto put in, "The whole point of this is that there might be a tenth Senshi out there. Try to pay attention."

"...The scientists jokingly named it Gabriel, after Xena's friend on the show."

"Please." Haruka murmured under her breath, "They were so more than friends."

Michiru put her finger to her mouth in a gesture for Haruka to be quiet. Ami looked through her notes as she continued briefing her friends.

------

Kihomi sighed as she sat behind the desk in her classroom. She was trying to grade a set of papers now before she got home, with the hope of possibly going out later to have some fun. Unfortunately, she was only a third of the way through the papers. There was no way she'd be able to finish grading the lot before the school building closed for the evening.

Frustrated, she took a sip of her coffee.

She was glad to have made it this far, but she was also lonely. Since her parents passed away in her late teens in an auto accident, she'd had to work two jobs to pay for her teaching degree. She had it now, but as a teacher she had very little social life. Her colleagues were all older men and women (straight women, no less), and she dealt with children all day. What she really wished for, more than anything, was a group of friends around her own age like she'd had back in high school.

Shaking herself out of her wistful daydreams, she took another sip of coffee and continued grading the papers in front of her.

------

A spell is a formula, usually designed around a ritual, meant to direct the will of a group of participants towards a common goal. To do this, energy must be raised, contained within a field (usually a magical circle), and at the right moment released out into the outside world to do the magicians' bidding. Several methods of raising the necessary energy are available, such as the use of mind-altering drugs, infliction of pain on oneself or others, meditation, frenzied dancing, and sex.

Tonight's ritual would be an act of sex magic. Beniko and Marika would be the two partners, while a male magician would be in charge of actually saying the words and directing the energy out of the circle at the right time. The others would all be chanting as they cut themselves with small razor blades, adding their pain to the energy already being raised in the circle.

Professor Miyagawa would have the most critical job though. He would have to turn his machine on at just the right moment.

As the last participant disrobed and entered the circle, Professor Miyagawa started up his machine. The High Priest began to cast the circle.

------

Rei's eyes suddenly opened wide as she took in a sharp intake of air.

"The planet is two thousand miles wide, making it roughly five hundred and fifty miles wider than Pluto."

Something was happening, something bad. Michiru suddenly began to feel something too.

"Usagi, wake up." Minako said as the other girl's eyes were slowly closing.

"The planet seems to take about ten thousand years to complete an orbit. Now that it is officially a planet and no longer a suspected planetoid, the International Astronomical Union, or IAU has abandoned both the names Xena and Sedna, and have named it after the Roman Goddess Minerva."

Rei felt dizzy as she tried to stand. Michiru reached for her mirror as Ami continued on with what they knew so far.

------

"Oh ye Guardians of the East Gate, Lords of the Air, we summon ye to protect this circle." the magus called out. Having already called upon the north, west and south guardians, the circle was now secure.

Beniko lay on her back on top of the pentagram drawn out on the floor, spreading her arms and legs out to match the shape of the five-pointed star. She was to be the living altar, the receptacle. Marika looked silently down at her as a smile slowly crept across her face. She moved closer, and stopped as her smile faded.

Someone, or something, was trying to eavesdrop. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

------

"Rei!" Usagi screamed. Everyone looked to where the Shinto Priestess and Senshi of Mars had fallen to the floor. Makoto reached her first. Michiru quickly glanced to her mirror. The glass had gone black.

------

Opening her eyes again, Marika once again smiled down at Beniko. As she began to kneel down in front of her, her eyes rolled back and her mouth opened, exposing her forked tongue.

"In the name of the old gods, the name of the spirits of darkness, we command ye gates to open."

As the blood flowed from the chanters and the room began to be filled with the sounds of invocations and moans of pleasure, Professor Miyagawa flicked the switch.

They now had ten minutes.

------

"Rei!" Minako screamed, "Rei!"

"What happened?" Hotaru asked. Makoto, holding the young woman, shook her head.

"I don't know. She was getting up, and..."

Haruka turned from their fallen friend to Michiru.

"Michi-chan, what's happening? What does your mirror show?"

Setsuna suddenly felt a jolt go through her body.

"I... I don't know. The mirror isn't working."

The Senshi of time could feel her entire body tingling.

"Rei, wake up." Usagi cried, a tear traveling doen her right cheek, "Please Rei, wake up."

Ami was kneeling down holding Rei's hand in hers. "Rei, what's wrong? What's happening?"

Suddenly a second jolt went through Setsuna's body, roughly ten seconds after the first.

"Time." she gasped. Haruka looked at her fellow Outer Senshi.

"What? What about time? What's..."

"Pluto Power Make-up!" Setsuna shouted, transforming into Sailor Pluto. An instant later, she was gone.

------

"We command you dimensional gates, open!" the magus called out over the sounds coming from the floor, "We command you gates of time, open! We call upon ye, hidden forces, hasten the manifestation of Princess

Minerva. This we command!"

"Hasten the manifestation!" all within the circle, with the exception of the two on the floor, began to chant, "Hasten the manifestation! This we command! This we command!"

------

The janitor, an old man in his fifties, ran down the school halls as fast as he could toward where he heard the scream. As he ran, he heard a second, louder one.

Finally reaching the classroom at the end of the hall, he found Saito Kihomi kneeling on the floor. She was clutching her head as blood slowly began running down her nose and out of her ears. Her graded papers lay strewn about on the floor, some of them resting in the puddle left from her coffee cup smashing against the tile floor.

"Saito-sempai!" the janitor cried. "What's wrong, what's happening?"

Tears streamed down the young teachers face as the pain became almost unbearable.

"I... I don't know, I... **AAAARGH!**" she screamed as her face contorted from the sudden surge of pain once again tearing through her head.

The janitor got up.

"Wait here, I'll get help." he said as he rushed out of the room to find a phone to call an ambulance. Now alone again, unseen by anyone around her, a strangely-shaped sigil began to glow on Kihomi's forehead.

---To Be Continued---

End notes: Source material comes from various occult books and websites.

This kind of story is somewhat new to me; I've never written anything this dark before. This is therefore a bit of an experiment for me, so bear with me.


	3. Chapter 3

-Minerva-

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters other than the original ones I created for this story.

------

-3-

_"I hight Don Quixote, I live on peyote,_

_marijuana, morphine, and cocaine,_

_I never know sadness, but only a madness_

_that burns at the heart and the brain._

_I see each chairwoman, ecstatic, inhuman,_

_angelic, demonic, divine._

_Each wagon a dragon, each beer mug a flagon_

_that brims with ambrosial wine."_

Jack Parsons, 1943

----

---The Silver Millennium---

The small planet had never known war or hunger. Some attributed it to good fortune, while others gave the credit to the rich soil which was perfect for agriculture. Most, however, credited it to the princess.

Universally loved by all, it was said that the ruler of the kingdom's beauty and kindness were matched only by her wisdom and strength. When Minerva was happy, her people were happy. When she felt sadness, such as at the death of one of her wives she'd had over the hundreds of years of her existence, the kingdom grieved with her. The affection was mutual, as the Princess Minerva cared deeply for all those under her care.

Which was what made today so bittersweet.

Two months ago, the visitors came. A group of emissaries sent on a goodwill visit from Neptune to Pluto had been blown far off course by the solar winds. Their food supplies nearly gone and despair setting in among the ambassadors, they had somehow through sheer luck arrived at the tiny kingdom. With them came incredible news.

Minerva was not alone.

There were other Princesses, nine in all. Minerva sat enthralled upon her throne as the men and women of Neptune told her about their aqua-haired ruler and her love Princess Uranus, as well as stories about the other rulers in the solar system. And about the Queen who ruled all from her palace on a moon circling a beautiful blue and green planet.

When they finished, a tear of joy slowly ran down Minerva's face. She wasn't an orphan; there were others.

She decided then that she must meet her fellow rulers. After hearing the stories of them from the ambassadors, she already felt like she knew them. For her to be unaware of their existence and them to be unaware of hers was intolerable. She would see that their ship would be repaired, and then she would go with them.

The decision had been made two months ago, and the repairs had now been made. She would be leaving with them tomorrow. As she paced her state room and prepared to address her people, she looked once again at the pictures that the ambassadors had given her of her "sisters." The silver-haired Queen and her blond child, the solemn-looking Saturn, and the others all gave her cause to smile. There was one hauntingly beautiful picture though that had captured her attention. She was concentrating on the Princess in the image so hard she didn't hear her chamberlain Maiya enter the room.

"Minerva, it is time. The people await your announcement."

She nodded and began to walk out onto the palace balcony. Before she could cross the room though, Maiya grabbed hold of her arm.

"My princess, I beg you, don't do this." the chamberlain pleaded. Minerva turned back to her and smiled reassuringly.

"I'll only be gone a short while. And I fully trust in your capabilities to rule in my absence."

Maiya looked down, "I know, but..."

"Maiya, please try to understand. There are others now. I'm not alone anymore."

"But you weren't alone before." Maiya argued, "What about your people, and your wives?"

Minerva took a deep breath, "My people will always have a special place in my heart. And as for the wives I've had over the years... Do you have any idea what it's like to fall in love with someone, to marry them, and then watch them grow old and die as you remain ever youthful? It's torture." she said, her voice cracking a bit at the end. "Now please, we can continue this discussion later." she said as she turned again and walked out onto the balcony of the palace. As the crowd outside cheered and Minerva waved her arms to silence them so she could deliver her speech, her chamberlain left the Princess' chamber, wiping away a tear as she did so.

---The Present---

Kihomi stifled a yawn as she left the hospital. The staff had decided it best to keep her overnight for observation, since the X-rays and tests had shown no anomalies. Kihomi didn't argue; she was too frightened to. She'd never felt pain that intense in her life. The doctors came into her room in the morning and admitted they were baffled as to what might have happened. She was released, and told to notify them immediately if anything like that happened again.

As she hailed a cab, she gave a sigh of relief as she realized today was Saturday. Once she went home, she planned to take a long shower and go out to the mall. She'd seen a coat she'd liked at one of the stores, and she also needed to walk around and think about what had happened. She always found it easier to think on her feet than when she was sitting around inactive.

A taxi stopped in front of her, and she got in.

------

Rei's eyes slowly opened to find herself in Usagi's bedroom. Looking over to her left, she saw Mamoru asleep in a small chair, with Luna sleeping in his lap. Rising up to a sitting position, her movements woke up the cat.

"Rei! You're awake!" Luna cried out as she jumped from Mamoru's lap to the bed. Mamoru awoke and smiled.

"How are you feeling?" he asked the priestess.

"A bit light headed. Where is everyone?"

"Well, after Hotaru's powers were unable to bring you around, we decided it best to bring you here. Makoto had to work at the restaurant today, and Ami is busy collecting data for her med school paper on the heart. They'll both be along later. The Outers will be around later as well. And as for Minako and Usagi, they're both here waiting anxiously for you to wake up."

"I see..." Rei murmured as Luna looked at her in concern. "Chiba-san, get Usagi and Minako, please. We need to know what's happening."

Mamoru nodded, "While I'm at it, I'll get you something to eat." he said before he left.

Left alone Luna turned to the young woman on the bed. "Rei, do you have any idea what might've happened?"

Rei shook her head, "None. I can only sense a menace coming, and I believe it has something to do with this tenth planet."

Just then Usagi and Minako rushed in, followed by Artemis. Luna only barely managed to get out of the way and join her fellow guardian before the two friends hugged their fellow Senshi.

"Rei, you're okay!" Usagi shouted with joy. Minako let go of her and backed up a bit.

"Rei," the Senshi of Love began, "What happened?"

"There's a menace coming." Rei answered, "A bad one."

Luna nodded, "And she believes it has something to do with the recently discovered planet."

Rei put her hand to her forehead as she tried to clear her head, "None of this makes any sense. How could we not know about a tenth planet, or a possible tenth Senshi?"

"Well," Minako began, "According to Ami, the planet was located far beyond Pluto in a stretch of space known as the..." she stopped to pull out a slip of paper she'd taken notes on, "The Kuiper Belt, which apparently is also home to comets, asteroids and various other large chunks of space rock. That, and the fact the planet takes so long to complete its orbit, would probably explain how we could've missed it."

"It makes sense." Artemis pointed out, "An object only slightly larger than Pluto could very easily be hidden among such space debris."

"A new planet, and a new Sailor Senshi." Usagi said with a dreamy smile.

Rei frowned. "And a new menace." she reminded.

"Rei, you don't think the unknown Senshi is the menace, do you?" Minako asked.

The Shinto priestess shook her head, "I don't know. The two are connected, but I can't tell yet if they're the same."

------

Hotaru watched as her Setsuna-mama wandered off to the back of the clothing store. She then turned back to Haruka and Michiru. Both noticed the look of concern on her face.

"Hotaru, relax." Michiru said, "Everything will be alright."

"I wish I could be so sure." Hotaru answered, "Between Setsuna-mama's running off yesterday, the revelation that there may be a tenth Senshi, and my inability to help Rei..."

"Calm down firefly." Haruka urged, putting a reassuringly firm hand on her shoulder, "Rei's in no danger, Setsuna's back, and as for the possibility of another Senshi out there somewhere, we'll begin searching just as soon as Rei recovers."

Hotaru was about to say more, when she saw a familiar face near the store's entrance.

Saito Kihomi walked into the store through the mall entrance, an old green jacket thrown on over her white blouse. She had her hair up in a bun, with a few brown hairs dangling down around her attractive face. A pair of red tanned boots was just visible beneath her blue jeans, and she had a dark brown purse at her side.

"Saito-sensei!" a girl's voice called. Kihomi turned to her left to see one of her favorite students, Tomoe Hotaru, waving to her. She smiled and waved back as her student began to walk over. The child was followed by two people Kihomi took to be her adopted parents.

"Sensei." Hotaru said as she bowed to her teacher, "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing as you, I'd imagine." Kihomi joked, "I'm here clothes shopping."

"A-hem." the sandy blond behind Hotaru said exaggeratedly. The Senshi of Death blushed in embarrassment.

"Oh yeah; sensei, these are two of my adoptive parents, Tenoh Haruka and Kaioh Michiru. Haruka-Papa, Michiru-mama, this is my Japanese history teacher Saito-sensei."

"You can call me Kihomi, though." the brunet said, bowing respectfully to the two. Haruka and Michiru both returned the bow. As they came up, Kihomi noticed their matching wedding rings.

"Hotaru-san told me she had three adoptive parents. You two must be the husband and wife of the trio, then."

"Well, something like that." Michiru said. Hotaru started to giggle.

"Hotaru-san, what's so funny?" Kihomi asked.

Hotaru was about to elaborate, when Haruka gave her a stern look. It was one thing for their close friends to know they were a married lesbian couple, but they didn't know this teacher well enough to explain things to her. The racecar driver then turned from her daughter to Kihomi.

"You'll have to forgive Hotaru." Haruka explained, "She..." the blond stopped when she realized the teacher was no longer paying attention. She was staring off at something behind her and Michiru, with a strange look in her eyes.

Kihomi saw the most ravishingly beautiful woman she'd ever seen coming down one of the clothing aisles. She held a cell phone in her hand, and wore a form fitting light-green business suit, with a skirt that showed off her long sensuous legs. Her long hair hung down to her calves, and her violet eyes twinkled beneath the mall lights.

The others turned to see what was so captivating. All they saw was Setsuna coming toward them, folding up her cell phone.

"Good news everyone." The Senshi of Time called over, "Rei's awake. Mamoru just called, and she's doing fine. I..." her voice trailed off as she noted the young woman standing with her family. "Hello." she said, staring into the pretty grey eyes of a very attractive stranger, "I don't believe we've met before." she said with a smile.

Kihomi was speechless. Her mouth had gone dry, and it felt like the temperature in the store had gone up a few degrees. Luckily, Hotaru stepped in.

"This is my teacher, Saito-sensei. Saito-sensei, this is my Setsuna-mama."

Kihomi continued to gaze in awe at Setsuna, as the slightly shorter woman stared back, equally enthralled with what she was seeing. Finally shaking herself out of it, Kihomi bowed to her.

"You... You may call me Kihomi, Setsuna-sama." she stammered out, even as she could feel her face turning red. What was she doing? Here she was, a twenty-six year old school teacher, behaving like a teenager with a schoolgirl crush. And towards the parent of one of her children, no less.

"Kihomi." Setsuna said. "It's a beautiful name, Kihomi-sama."

Haruka and Michiru looked at the two women, and smiled as they exchanged knowing glances. Hotaru, beginning to suspect what was happening, looked over to the Senshi of Time.

"Setsuna-mama," she began reluctantly, "If Rei is awake, shouldn't we go to check up on her?"

"Hmm...?" Setsuna asked, lost in Kihomi's eyes.

"I said, shouldn't we check up on Rei?"

"Rei? Rei! Of course, Rei." Setsuna said, the usually mysterious and aloof Senshi blushing in embarrassment herself now. "Yes, we need to go and see Rei. I'm sorry to have to leave Kihomi-sama, but a friend of ours isn't doing well, and we have to go check up on her. Maybe we can talk again sometime." she said, as she began to turn around. Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru began to follow her out.

"When?" Kihomi blurted out. She immediately regretted it when Setsuna stopped and turned back to her. The question was way too forward, way too desperate sounding. Besides, she was still in the closet for heaven's sake. She didn't even know if the woman was interested in girls, nor did she...

"Do you have any plans tomorrow night around eight?" Setsuna asked.

Kihomi smiled. "No, none."

"Then lets get together for dinner maybe." the fashion designer suggested.

"Of course." she answered, her smile widening, "Dinner sounds great."

Setsuna returned Kihomi's smile warmly before opening her purse. A few seconds later, she pulled out a pen and a small notebook. She wrote her cell number down on one of the sheets and handed it to the teacher.

"Call me tomorrow. We'll make arrangements."

Kihomi bowed once again to Setsuna as she took the sheet. "Thank you, I will." she promised. She turned away, clutching the sheet with both hands as if it were a gold bar. She held it closer, noting with satisfaction that it smelled of the woman's intoxicating perfume. She put the sheet in her purse and went off to look for the coat she was interested in.

Setsuna, meanwhile, watched the teacher's hips sway as she walked away. She took a deep breath, and turned back to see three very amused faces staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

------

"How much longer, professor?" Beniko asked.

The professor turned to her and smiled, "Not much longer. The machine should be recharged in another three hours." he said as Marika entered the warehouse. The redhead was wearing her usual leather jacket and was carrying a small box that had holes punched in it.

"I see. Your machine is a complete success. You should be proud, Miyagawa-sempai."

"Thank you, I..." as the professor watched, Marika opened the box behind Beniko and took out a small mouse. She gripped it in her hand, and snapped its head back forcibly with her thumb, killing it. She then opened her mouth and ate the rodent.

"The years and money it took to complete such a machine boggles the mind." Beniko added.

The professor didn't answer the blond. He simply stared wide-eyed as Marika killed and ate a second, and then a third mouse.

"When we succeed in this endeavor, it will be in no small part thanks to you, and... Professor? Professor, is everything okay?" Beniko asked as the professor began to look ill. She turned to see her partner finishing up her meal, and returned her gaze back to Professor Miyagawa. "Professor, I..."

"What exactly is she?" the professor asked, as he tried to control the rising tide of nausea threatening to overtake him. Marika looked over through half-closed eyes and frowned at the professor.

"Professor, who or what she is doesn't concern you. We are after power. She's here to help us attain power. That's all you need to know."

The professor looked from one young woman to the other, and slowly turned and went back to his machine. Beniko went over to her lover, and allowed the silent redhead to take her by the wrist and lead her into a secluded area off in the back of the warehouse. From where he was stationed, professor Miyagawa could hear the sounds of love-making, as well as what vaguely resembled the sounds of a dog growling.

-To Be Continued-


	4. Chapter 4

-Minerva-

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters other than the original ones I created for this story.

------

-4-

_"She will come girt with the sword of freedom, and before her kings and priests will tremble and cities and empires will fall, and she will be called BABALON, the scarlet woman...And women will respond to her war cry, and throw off their shackles and chains, and men will respond to her challenge, forsaking the foolish ways and the little ways, and she will shine as the ruddy evening star in the bloody sunset of Gotterdamerung, will shine as a morning star when the night has passed, and a new dawn breaks over the garden of Pan"_

Jack Parsons, writings concerning Babylon written shortly before the Babylon Working.

----

_"Apparently Parsons...or somebody is producing a Moonchild. I get fairly frantic when I contemplate the idiocy of these louts."_

Excerpts from a letter Aleister Crowley wrote to Karl Germer (then head of the Ordo Templi Orientalis in the U.S.) concerning reports reaching him about the Babylon Working. Shortly after the letter was written, Crowley reorganized the U.S. O.T.O. lodge, removing Parsons from his position of power.

----

---The Silver Millennium---

The solar system spread out before her. In her ethereal existence she watched from the outside, the war fleet from deep space speeding at an incredible rate toward the outermost planet. She watched as the soldiers she'd filled with bloodlust and the urge to conquer came closer and closer. They would destroy the small planet and its ruler before moving on to the next planet. No warning would reach Pluto; indeed, Pluto didn't even know of Minerva's existence. Soon, the solar system would be subjugated to them.

Then she would make her appearance.

Moving at the speed of thought, she left deep space and the fleet to go to planet Minerva. She wanted a front-row seat for this.

What she got was an unwelcome shock.

An emissary vessel from Neptune was on the surface of the small planet. How could this be? She'd watched the rulers of the other planets long enough to know that it would be difficult enough even with her powers to defeat the nine of them. If the tenth should somehow join them, they'd be invincible.

This couldn't happen. It _wouldn't_ happen. She saw that the Princess of Minerva was giving some sort of a speech, and listened in.

"...only a short while. At the most, a few months perhaps. Once relations between us and our sister planets have been established all will benefit."

She hadn't contacted them yet. There was still time. All she needed to do was stall her long enough for the war fleet to arrive.

"I will take a part of you all with me in my heart as I leave with the ambassadors..." she listened as the Princess continued on with her speech, finally ending to a round of applause. As Minerva turned away from her people to go back into her chamber, she followed.

---

She stared out from the picture in the chamber, a long staff with an orb near the end clutched in her hands. A mysterious smile graced her face, and long dark green hair hung down her back. Among all the pictures the ambassadors had shown her, it was this one that had captivated her.

Minerva had never seen beauty such as this before. A feeling of longing clutched at her heart as she touched the face with her fingertips. Her chamberlain watched her princess from the other side of the room as jealousy swept over her. Why did the Princess like the lady in the picture so much? Why couldn't she like her?

"_It's not fair, is it_?" a voice asked.

Maiya looked around, but saw nobody else in the room but her ruler.

"My lady, did you say something?" the chamberlain asked, brushing a few strands of curly black hair back.

"Hmm?" Minerva asked, "No, why?"

"_She didn't._ _**I**__ did_."

Maiya felt a cold chill go down her back as she realized she was hearing voices.

"_Relax, my child_." the voice cooed, "_You're not going mad, nor are you in any danger. I'm here to help you_."

"Maiya?" Minerva asked, noticing the frightened look in her chamberlain's face, "What's wrong?"

"_You love her, don't you_?" the voice asked, "_You desire her, but she doesn't want you. She's fallen in love with an image in a picture_."

"Y... Your Highness," the chamberlain began, "I..."

"_I could change that_."

Maiya's eyes widened at that.

"There is something wrong, isn't there?" Minerva asked, concerned for the woman's welfare.

"We _could change that_."

"How?" Maiya whispered under the Princess' concerned gaze.

"What is it?" Minerva asked, "Tell me?"

"_All you have to do is allow me in. Open yourself to me, and allow me entrance my child. I will do the rest_."

Maiya looked at the woman in front of her, at her golden skirt, the light green bow on her chest and white boots that ended just above her knees.

"Yes." The chamberlain whispered, closing her eyes. A second later, something else opened them.

"Everything's alright, my lady." Maiya said with a smile, "Just a bit of indigestion, I'm afraid. Will there be anything else, Princess?"

Minerva smiled back in relief, "No, of course not. You may leave."

Maiya bowed low and turned to leave, smiling wickedly once her back was to the Princess.

---South Orange Grove, Texas---

---January 18, 1946---

U.S. military rocket scientist and magician Jack Parsons, along with his magical partner and certain members of the O.T.O. had been working on the ritual for eleven days straight, performing the rite twice a day on each of those days. On the second and third day, a wind storm came up out of nowhere. Parsons was unhappy; it wasn't a windstorm he wanted, it was an avatar.

On the seventh day, the magician was awoken by seven loud knocks. Getting out of bed, he discovered a smashed table lamp. On a subsequent night, during one of the final rituals, one of the participants was attacked by an entity that knocked a candle out of his hand and paralyzed his right arm overnight. The thing, a seven foot tall brownish-yellow light, was banished by Parson waving a ritual sword at it.

Now, four days after the final ritual, it would appear that his ritual had been a failure. No avatar, no new Mary to carry the incarnate goddess Babylon had appeared.

Parsons now found himself and a group of others in the Mojave Desert performing a different ritual, one in celebration of the Winter Solstice. As the ritual ended, an overwhelming feeling of calm and contentment came over him. He turned to his partner and smiled.

"It is done." he said.

Later, the two returned to Parson's house. There, waiting at the door, was a woman with green catlike eyes and red hair, just as the ritual demanded. They now had their avatar.

---Tokyo, the Present---

Hotaru was sitting on the couch in the living room reading a magazine when she felt a hand come down on her head.

"Brain sucker." A deep, husky voice said as the hand started massaging her head. The teen looked up to see a very amused Haruka looking down at her. Suddenly, her hand stopped moving.

"Died of malnutrition." she joked.

"Ha ha, very funny." Hotaru said sarcastically.

Haruka smiled down on her adoptive daughter, "So, looking forward to Monday after school?"

"You mean when you're going to teach me that grease monkey stuff?"

"Hey, everyone should know how to change their oil." Haruka said as Setsuna came into the room.

"Maybe," Hotaru pointed out, "but I don't even know how to drive yet, remember?" She then turned from her papa to Setsuna, "Hey Setsuna-mama. What's up?"

"Nothing much. Where's Michiru?"

"In the kitchen starting dinner." Haruka answered. Setsuna nodded and walked off to the kitchen.

She found the Senshi of the Sea stirring a pot of spaghetti sauce, her hair pulled back in a ponytail to keep it from falling into any of the food. As she walked over, Michiru began adding in the oregano. The violinist turned to put the container back in the herb rack when she saw her friend and fellow Senshi.

"Setsuna-chan? Is something wrong?" she asked, noting the worried expression on the other woman's face.

"Where to begin?" Setsuna sighed as she leaned against a cupboard. "I still don't know what happened yesterday. Time seemed to go mad for a few minutes. Something, some form of energy or energies, was sent back multiple times throughout the past."

Michiru stopped what she was doing to consider what Setsuna had just said. "That sounds serious. Was there any damage to the timegate? Are we in danger?"

"No, no damage, and the world's in no danger. But someone somewhere is tampering with forces that should be left alone. I'm just a bit frustrated that I can't get a handle on what's happening. And..."

"And?" Michiru prodded. Setsuna took a deep breath.

"And, well... Michi-chan, I'm the Senshi of Time. I've lived a solitary, lonely existence for so long, and now... I guess I always assumed I was meant to be alone."

Michiru looked sympathetically at her, "Setsuna, no one's meant to be

alone." she said in reply.

Setsuna began to fidget in place as she thought of the next thing to say. "There's, there's more to it than that. Michi, I've never dated a girl before." she confided.

"I see." she said as Haruka came into the kitchen behind Setsuna, "But then, you've never dated any guys either, have you?"

"Well, now that you mention it..." Setsuna said a bit uneasily as Haruka leaned up against a wall.

"Have you ever been attracted to a man before?" Michiru asked.

Setsuna smiled, "For a while there I thought I was attracted to Mamoru." she admitted.

The sounds of someone snickering caused both women to turn towards Haruka.

"Mamoru?" the sandy blond asked incredulously, "Are you _serious_?"

Setsuna's face turned red as Michiru gave her wife a stern look of warning.

"I'm sorry." Haruka said quickly as thoughts of spending the next few nights on the couch suddenly appeared in her head. "Look, in all seriousness, when you looked at her today at the mall, how did you feel?"

Setsuna thought for a moment, "I'm not sure. I guess... I... look, this is hard for me, alright. I've never looked at another woman like that."

Haruka walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Look, she seemed like a really nice girl. If you're nervous, be upfront with her about it."

Michiru nodded her head from across the room. "Ruka's right. And when the two of you get together tomorrow, just relax and let nature take its course."

"And if she tries to get fresh," Haruka added in a low tone, "Remember to go for either the knees or the ribs."

------

Kihomi arrived back at her apartment smiling pleasantly to herself. She went out to buy a coat, and came back with an attractive young woman's phone number. She draped the coat over a chair as she once again pulled the slip of paper out of her purse to look at it. "Meiou Setsuna" it read, followed by her cell number.

She put the paper back in her purse, resolving to call tomorrow around noon. She then walked past her bookshelf filled with history books and classical literature, and came over to her CD rack. Choosing a Miles Davis jazz album, she put it in the player, loosing herself in the music as she went into the kitchen.

As Pharaoh's Dance began to play over the speakers, she pulled the leftover Chinese takeout out of the refrigerator and over to the microwave. As she set it for high and put the food in, she once again thought of Setsuna. She'd never been out with anyone quite this attractive before. The prospect was a bit daunting to say the least.

As the microwave's bell went off, she pulled out her dinner, resolving to search her closet after dinner for something appropriate to wear. She only hoped she had something nice somewhere that didn't have chalk dust all over it.

------

Ami and Makoto had joined the other Inner Senshi at Usagi's house about an hour ago. Makoto was busy fixing up something for her friends in the kitchen. Minako and Usagi were playing checkers on one side of the living room while Ami and Rei were discussing what to do next on the other. Mamoru had left half an hour earlier.

"Ha." Minako laughed gleefully, "King me."

"When will the Outers be over?" Ami asked.

"Hey, you cheated!" Usagi shouted.

"After dinner." Minako answered from her side of the room. "And I didn't cheat." she said sternly to Usagi.

Ami nodded, and then turned to Rei.

"What exactly happened yesterday?" she asked.

"Yes you did." Usagi said, "I saw Artemis there whisper in your ear a few minutes ago."

"I'm not entirely sure myself." The priestess admitted, "All of a sudden, I felt a menace, an overwhelming feeling of dread. I tried to concentrate on the source, when I felt dizzy and passed out."

"He did not." Minako said back to Usagi, "He just gave me a kiss. Artemis is a very affectionate cat."

"She believes it has something to do with the new planet." Luna added, sitting next to Usagi. The cat then looked at the two bickering checkers players and rolled her eyes.

Usagi turned away from the chess game to look at Ami and Rei.

"But she doesn't know if the planet's Senshi is the threat, though." Usagi was quick to point out. Rei looked at her sternly.

"Maybe not Usagi, but it's sure as hell connected to her. I... Oh no." she gasped out.

"Rei?" Minako asked, concerned over the way all the color had drained from Rei's face, "Rei, what's wrong?"

"It... It's happening again." she managed to get out. Closing her eyes, she tried to reach out mentally to see what was happening.

------

Elsewhere, Michiru was putting the finishing touches on the spaghetti dinner she was preparing when she felt the menace too. The wooden spoon fell from her hand and hit the floor.

Haruka came in from the living room to check up.

"Koibito (beloved), what's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm not sure." Michiru answered, uneasiness evident in her voice. "Something's not right, though."

------

"Oh ye Guardians of the North Gate, Lords of Earth, we summon ye to protect this circle." the magus called out over the soft hum of Professor Miyagawa's machine. As the participants once again picked up their blades and Beniko lay once again on top of the pentagram, Marika watched as the High Priest finished sealing off the circle, making a face as she realized outsiders were trying to look in again. She'd tried to be nice before, but apparently they hadn't got the message.

It was now time to teach them a lesson.

------

A moment later, Michiru had her mirror in her hand. Before she could look into it however, a feeling of intense nausea started to come upon her, along with severe stomach cramps which caused her to almost double over in pain. Clutching her abdomen, she made it to the kitchen sink just in time to throw up.

------

Rei was concentrating as best she could to find the source of the menace, when she suddenly felt the room get warmer. She was about to tell Usagi to turn the heat down, when a white-hot pain suddenly burst forth over her whole body.

Usagi and the other Inners rushed to Rei, who began to shriek as her skin first turned red and then began to boil and blister.

------

Marika smiled as she felt the pain and distress of the two Senshi. She then slowly lowered herself on top of Beniko as the chanting began.

------

"Michi!" Haruka shouted as she held the shorter woman from behind. Michiru's stomach was now empty of its contents, but she was still suffering uncontrollably from the dry heaves. As Hotaru and Setsuna rushed in, the violinist began coughing up blood.

------

The professor paid careful attention to the proceedings of the ritual, waiting for the signal. Meanwhile, blood continued to run down the arms and torsos of the chanters as the High Priest continued the invocations.

------

"It burns!" Rei screamed, unable to bear the pain, "Oh gods, it hurts!"

"Rei!" Ami cried. Makoto had rushed into the room from the kitchen to see what was happening.

"Makoto, get over here quick!" Usagi ordered, "we need to join together to combat this."

------

Sweat poured down Michiru's face as she began hyperventilating. She could feel her wife's strong arms around her waist, and she reached down to clutch Haruka's left hand, holding it in a vice-like grip as if it were a lifeline. Hotaru, who had transformed into Sailor Saturn, was trying to use her healing powers to help her Michiru-mama. The Senshi of the Seas was no longer coughing up blood, but her nausea and painful cramps remained.

"R... Ruka..." she managed to get out.

"I'm right here, Michi." Haruka answered as she wiped the sweat from her wife's brow with her hand. "I'm not going anywhere, love."

Setsuna just then came into the kitchen from the bathroom with a wet washcloth and began to wipe her friend's chin and mouth clean of blood, ignoring the disgusting sight in the sink.

"Michi-chan." Setsuna began, "What's happening? Tell us how this happened."

"I... I felt something." Michiru began, closing her eyes as she continued to feel sick, "A m... menace of some kind. I was... was about to look into my mirror, and..."

"And something or someone caused you to become violently ill." Setsuna said, suddenly realizing that her friend had been attacked psychically.

Haruka could feel unbridled rage welling up within her at whoever had done this to her love. As Setsuna took Michiru's wife's other hand, she angrily resolved that when she and the others found out who was doing this, she would make sure they paid.

Setsuna could feel Michiru's firm grip on her hand, and she gave her friend's hand a light squeeze for support. Like Haruka, she wasn't going anywhere.

------

The magus turned from the spectacle taking place at his feet to give Professor Miyagawa the signal. The scientist turned to the machine and flipped the necessary switch, watching with satisfaction as the glowing orbs of ions within the vacuum chamber began to disappear into the past. He turned back to the magus and bowed. The High Priest returned the bow, and proceeded with the ritual.

------

Setsuna felt a jolt, just like the one from the day before, go through her body. She looked in despair at her friends, at Michiru who was still suffering and Haruka who was beside herself, unable to help her partner. She then turned to see Hotaru's frightened face, the child obviously worried for her Michiru-mama's welfare.

"No." she whispered, as a second jolt seared through her, "Not now."

Haruka was close enough to have heard her friend. "Setsuna, what is it? What's happening?"

"I... I'm sorry." she said as a third jolt hit her, "I'm needed elsewhere. It's the timegate."

Haruka could see how torn her friend was by having to leave. Michiru looked up at her and smiled weakly.

"We... we understand." she said, "Go."

Setsuna nodded sadly as she let go of Michiru's hand. A short transformation later, and she was gone.

------

Kihomi stood before her closet with a critical eye. Hotaru's Setsuna–mama was obviously a very classy woman, which meant she would have to find something classy to wear out with her. As she contemplated which blouse would look best with which skirt, she felt a small bit of pressure behind her eyes. Ignoring it, she then thought of wearing dress pants instead of a skirt.

As she examined a pair of white slacks, she winced as the pressure in her head began to grow. With a sinking feeling, she realized it was happening again.

She ran out of her bedroom into the living room, trying to get to the phone in time. Before she could reach it, however, a mind-searing pain tore through her head, sending the teacher to the floor. She held her head in her hands, laying in a fetal position, as wave after wave of agony flooded through her skull.

"Manifestation..."

Kihomi had heard something. She looked around from where she was laying, but saw no one.

"Manifestation..."

"Hasten..."

"Manifestation..."

"Hasten the manifestation."

As her pain continued to increase, Kihomi began to fear for her sanity. First the pain, and now voices.

"Join us."

"Hasten the manifestation."

"Join us."

------

Usagi and the others Inners, with the exception of Rei, had all transformed. Sailors Venus, Jupiter, Mercury and Moon formed a semi-circle around the priestess as they joined hands. As Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus each took one of Rei's red and swollen hands in theirs, their friend gritted her teeth in pain.

"Concentrate." Sailor Moon said, trying to keep her voice steady as Rei began to whimper from the pain she was undergoing, "We need to unite to fight whatever's doing this. Rei, if you can, try to join with us." she added.

With that, the Sailor Senshi closed their eyes and began to concentrate.

------

Contact had been made.

All within the circle could feel it. They had managed to open the psychic link with Minerva. They began to chant for the Senshi to join them, when an animalistic growl of rage interrupted them.

The High Priest looked down to see Marika raise her head, her face twisting in anger.

"M... Marika?" Beniko asked looking up at her.

Marika could feel something fighting her, something strong. She began to breathe heavily as she tried to fight back.

------

"Hold on Rei!" Luna cried as the Senshi started to glow. The pain was slowly receding, allowing Rei to add more of her own power to that of her fellow Senshi.

------

Marika suddenly threw herself off Beniko onto the floor next to her, clutching her own head in pain and shock.

"Close the ritual!" Beniko shouted. The High Priest was beside himself.

"What? But... But we've made contact. We've..."

Unable to fight it anymore, Marika released the two eavesdroppers.

"We have no choice!" Beniko shouted, "End it now!"

------

Suddenly, just as quickly as it had started, the pain and voices in Kihomi's head were gone. She slowly got to her feet and headed to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. After taking two extra strength aspirins, she called the hospital.

------

Rei took in a deep breath of air as all the pain left her. Opening her eyes again, she found her skin was normal once more. In an instant, she was tackled in a group hug by her friends.

------

Michiru suddenly was able to stand upright again as the cramps and nausea left her as mysteriously as they had come.

"I... I think it's over." she murmured. The words were barely out of her mouth before she was turned around by Haruka and pulled into a tight embrace. She could feel her wife trembling as she stroked her fingers through her sweaty aqua locks. Sailor Saturn transformed back into Hotaru and came over as well to hug her Michiru-mama from behind.

Haruka narrowed her eyes angrily as she held onto her beloved. Someone or something had just attacked the single most important person in the blonde's life, and she'd been unable to stop it. A physical enemy like a youma she could handle, but something like this, where the enemy was unseen and was able to inflict pain from a distance, left her feeling frustrated and powerless.

------

Sailor Pluto appeared in the living room with a frown on her face. Someone was doing more than simply experimenting with time; they were actively accessing the timegate.

She could feel it. A foreign presence had been in the gate, opening it for a few minutes before closing the gate once again. She'd been unable to find the culprit due to the energy fields shifting backward in time and the possible threat they posed. She couldn't tell yet if the two were related, but she highly suspected it.

Transforming back into Meiou Setsuna, she headed into the kitchen to check on Michiru and the rest of her family.

---To Be Continued---

End Notes: Again, various occult websites and journals have been used as reference, especially in regards to the Babylon Working (Yes, it really happened). That being said, since no one has any idea what the exact results were, this is where I get to allow my imagination to run wild, (he, he).

Also, in regards to planet Xena- when this story was originally written the IAU, or International Astronomical Union, had yet to make a final decision on its planetary status. Since it was written however, not only has the IAU ruled Xena out as a planet, but they also decided Pluto was no longer a planet as well. So, let's just call this fic an AU and leave it at that, shall we?

And finally, the bit about Setsuna thinking she had a crush on Mamoru comes from the Manga.


	5. Chapter 5

-Minerva-

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters other than the original ones I created for this story.

------

-5-

_"Let the woman be girt with a sword before me!"_

_"In her is all power given."_

Excerpt from The Law is for All by Aleister Crowley.

----

---The Silver Millennium---

"How?" Yasuo, head ambassador from Neptune asked, "How did this happen?"

Minerva looked in shock at the smoldering remains of the emissarial ship. Going down to the wreck with Yasuo and two of the other ambassadors, they came upon two of the princess' guards lying in pools of their own blood, seemingly dismembered by wild animals.

"Great Shield!" Minerva exclaimed. A bright flash of light later, a large round bronze-colored shield appeared on her left arm as she carried her royal henshin wand in her right hand.

"Ambassador, stay here." she said to Yasuo before entering the still burning ship.

---

The satellites, set up around planet Minerva and its small moon, were for the detection of possible threats posed by asteroids and comets. As Sako rechecked the raw data coming in from the early warning system, chancellor Maiya entered the control room.

"What is it Sako?" Maiya hissed, "Don't you know how busy I am?"

Sako was taken aback a bit; Maiya was well known for getting along well with subordinates and being very giving with her time. Choosing to ignore her chancellor's tone, Sako gave her report.

"Several very large masses have appeared out of nowhere and are baring straight for us, Ma'am." she said, turning from her chancellor to point at the computer screen.

Maiya looked at the monitor as she walked up behind Sako and put her left hand on the young woman's shoulder.

"I see." she whispered, "Have you had a chance to inform anyone else yet?"

"No Ma'am, you're the first one I contacted."

Maiya smiled at that. Reaching around from behind, she grasped the young woman's throat with her right hand. Digging in with her nails, she tore out the younger woman's esophagus, spraying the monitor and computers with Sako's blood. She then grabbed her by the back of the head and crashed her skull through the monitor face first.

Flicking the blood from her hand, the chancellor closed her eyes.

"Quit your whining." she growled, "You wanted your Princess to stay, I'm making sure she does."

She then opened her eyes and smiled as she left the room. The fleet had left hyperspace. It would now begin.

---

Minerva looked around at the damage as she held her shield in front of her, a glowing yellow orb of light extending from the shield's edges to surround her body. As she walked among the charred and disfigured remains of her guards and the emissaries, she realized that this was no accident. Whatever had attacked the guards had also done this.

Somewhere on planet Minerva there was a traitor.

She began to turn around when she felt the ground shudder underneath her. As she began to rush out of the ship, a second shockwave was felt.

'An earthquake.' she thought as she was seized with concern for her subjects. As she finally exited the craft, she learned the horrifying truth.

War ships. War ships stretched across the sky, launching terrible weapons down on her beloved planet. She could hear the explosions, and her people screaming to her for help.

Her people were under attack.

Why hadn't she been warned?

---South Orange Grove, Texas---

---October 13, 1946---

Jack Parsons had been stripped of his leadership role in the American branch of the O.T.O. He had lost power and prestige within the occult community who now considered him a dangerous maverick. None of his old friends from the Ordo Templi Orientalis would have anything to do with him, lest they be ostracized themselves.

A weaker man would've been crushed by such setbacks. Parsons, however, no longer cared. Today was to be his triumph, his last laugh at Crowley and all those who'd tried to bring him down. As the avatar screamed in pain, Parson's looked to the skies and thanked the fates.

She was in labor.

Babylon was about to be born into the world of men.

It was most unusual for a father to request to be present at the birth of his child. Of course, being a rocket scientist for the U.S. Military had its perks, and the money needed to bribe an entire maternity ward was one of them. He looked on as the head began to crown. This was it; the beginning of the new Eon of Horace Crowley was always going on about. Unlike Crowley however, Parson's hadn't simply waited for the new eon to arrive; he'd forced it to come now!

The shoulders now emerged as tears of joy began to run down the magus' cheeks. With a final scream, and an agonizing push, the child was born. Babylon was born!

Parsons pushed the nurses out of the way. He had to see the goddess, the female messiah of the new age, he...

But wait; what was this? Something went wrong. This wasn't a goddess of light and freedom.

What in the hell _was_ this?

---Tokyo, the Present---

Haruka sat on the couch in Usagi's living room with her arm wrapped protectively around Michiru's shoulder. Those who only knew the public face of Tenoh Haruka, the formula-one racecar driver with the roguish good looks, would've been surprised by the private woman; a warrior, wife and parent who was willing to sacrifice anything for those she cared for.

Yesterday, she'd been forced to look on helplessly as Michiru was assaulted by something psychically. Later, she and the Outers learned that Rei had likewise been attacked. Both times, it had been when they felt a menace first and tried to reach out to discover its source.

The events of yesterday had frightened the sandy-blonde more than she was comfortably willing to admit. She looked over to see Hotaru sitting on Michiru's other side, and frowned when she thought of the fifteen year old having to watch her Michiru-mama go through that.

"You can't be serious."

Rei's voice brought the racer back to the present.

"I can't simply ignore something like this. Whatever this menace is..."

"Nearly took out both you and Michi-chan." Makoto interrupted. "If we hadn't been there to help you combat it, what do you think would've happened?"

"But, to simply ignore a threat?" Michiru asked, "To intentionally not try to investigate..."

"Michi, please." Ami said, "Whatever it is will show itself soon enough."

Minako nodded, "The first time the two of you tried to investigate, Rei fell into a mini-coma and your mirror went black. And this last time... Michi-chan, we don't want to lose you or Rei."

Haruka frowned. What Michiru and Rei were being asked to do, intentionally ignore a threat until it showed itself, went against everything the two Senshi stood for. And yet...

And yet she still could remember holding her wife's shaking body as the shorter woman coughed up blood.

"Haruka?" Michiru asked as she looked into Haruka's handsome green eyes, "Ruka, what do you think?"

The Senshi of the Winds didn't know what to say. They were asking Michiru and Rei to cave into a bully who was attacking them from a distance, but at the same time what if next time the two women were alone? She'd once been willing to sacrifice anything, including not only her own life but even Michiru's as well, in order to save the earth from evil. Things were no longer so simple. She was now a wife and a parent.

With a sigh, she turned away from her wife's deep blue eyes to look at Usagi.

"Odango, I... I can no longer give an objective opinion." she admitted in front of everyone, "As the future ruler of Crystal Tokyo, I bow to your decision."

Usagi was taken aback. She looked at her fellow Senshi in the room, and swallowed hard.

"For now," she said finally, "We do nothing. At least for the moment. Whatever's out there will lower its guard eventually. And when it does..."

A small beeping sound interrupted her. Everyone looked over to Setsuna who was pulling her cell phone out of her purse. She turned her back to the group as she answered it.

------

Saito Kihomi arrived home an hour ago. After yet another series of exhaustive tests, the doctors again admitted defeat at what could be causing the young woman's problems. She didn't dare tell them about the voices. The last thing she needed as a teacher was for word to possibly get around that she was nuts. After the first attack she'd been frightened. Now, she was frustrated and angry.

What was most annoying was the fact that there was no precedent for what was happening to her. She'd never had anything like this occur to her before. And the timing was awful. She was in her first year as a teacher and had just met an attractive woman...

Setsuna!

With a start, she realized she hadn't called Hotaru's adoptive mother yet. Temporarily forgetting her health scare, she pulled out the slip of paper she'd given her and stared at the number. Taking a few deep breaths she worked up the courage and dialed the number.

------

"Hello?" Setsuna said into the phone. "What? Kihomi who? Oh, Kihomi!" she said with a start, "Yes, I'm fine, yourself? Tonight? Hold on." she said placing her hand over the phone. She turned around to see everyone in the room staring at her inquiringly. Hotaru spoke up first.

"Is it Saito-sensei?" the young Senshi of Death asked.

"Yes it is." she admitted as she felt herself blush under everyone's looks. Turning to Michiru, her face fell a bit. "Michi-chan, if you need me to cancel my... my date tonight, I..."

Michiru shook her head adamantly. "No way. I'll be fine. Hotaru and Ruka will be here, and the others will only be a phone call away. Go, and have a wonderful time."

Setsuna smiled warmly at her friend, then lifted her hand off the phone, "Yes, tonight's still on. Where? I know the perfect place. It's a traditional Japanese restaurant near the movie theater in Kioicho. Yes, that's the one. Don't worry about that; I asked you out to dinner, therefore the meals on me. And I have more than enough to cover the expenses. You're welcome. I'll see you tonight then at the restaurant. Goodbye."

After the phone call, she folded up her cell phone and put it back in her purse. She then turned to the faces of her friends and smiled sheepishly.

"Well..." Setsuna began awkwardly, "I suppose you're all wondering about my phone call."

Minako spoke up first.

"Details." the Senshi of Love demanded, "**Now**."

------

"What do you mean 'delayed'?" Beniko asked Professor Miyagawa. The scientist looked from the shapely blond to her silent red-haired partner, and sighed.

"Look, you made the ritual end early, causing me to shut down the machine too soon. The sudden stop burned out some of the coils. It'll be at least ten o'clock by the time I've got the repairs done and can have it up and running again."

Marika buried her head in her hand in frustration, allowing a grunt of annoyance to escape. Beniko put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, feeling a slight tinge at the way her partner's leather jacket moved beneath her fingers.

"Very well, Professor." the blond finally said, "Fix it. We need it up and running by tonight. We only have three nights left." she said as she and Marika left the warehouse. The professor watched them leave, and then began work on his machine.

---That Evening---

Kihomi stood nervously outside the restaurant, hoping she had everything together. She'd been to the beauty salon earlier and had her brown hair up in a French braid. She wore a dark evening coat over her light blue blouse and white slacks. A pair of tan pumps completed her ensemble. She looked at her watch and breathed a sigh of relief. No attacks. Whatever it was must have gone away.

"Kihomi?"

The young teacher turned to see Setsuna wearing a light gray coat over a short green evening gown, her long legs ending in black high-heeled pumps.

Both women stared admiringly at each other for a few seconds before Setsuna broke the silence.

"So... Are you ready for dinner?" she asked. Kihomi smiled warmly.

"Of course." she said. Reaching the door first, she held it open for Setsuna before following her in.

------

"So," Michiru said as she watched the television next to Haruka, "How do you think they're doing?"

"Depends." Haruka answered. Hotaru, sitting in another chair, looked over at her.

"Depends on what Haruka-papa?"

"On how much of a lady your teacher is, and how much self defense your Setsuna-mama remembers. Oof!" she let out as Michiru elbowed her.

------

"A fashion designer?" Kihomi asked.

Setsuna blushed, "I want to be one, but it's a hard industry to get into. I'll probably try to apprentice to someone who already has a name, then hopefully get my own designs made."

"Well, I can certainly see that you have fashion sense. You look stunning tonight."

Setsuna's eyes widened at that. She'd received compliments from her friends of course; but hearing the woman sitting across from her say it felt different somehow. She looked away from her date and looked down toward her unopened menu.

"What's wrong?" Kihomi asked. Setsuna swallowed hard and looked back up at her.

"I'm... I'm a bit scared." she admitted.

The teacher tilted her head a bit. "Scared? Of me?"

Setsuna nodded. "I've never dated a girl before." she said, which was a half truth; she'd never dated _anyone_ before. "I don't know what to say or how to act, or..." her voice trailed off as her date reached across the table to rest her hand on top of hers.

Kihomi could still remember her first time going out with a woman. They'd both been drunk, the sex was horrible, and she woke up the next day with a hangover and feeling dirty. She was determined that the woman sitting across from her wouldn't look back on tonight's date the same way she looked back on that one.

"Okay Setsuna; first of all, relax. I'm not going to jump you or try anything. Right now we're just two women who find one another attractive and who are sharing a meal together. I find you to be a fascinating, warm, and intelligent woman whom I'd like to get to know better. If you feel nervous about going any further than that, then we don't have to go any further yet."

Setsuna looked into Kihomi's eyes and smiled; her date was letting her set the pace. "Thank you." she said, "I... I'd like to get to know you better too."

Kihomi felt herself melt under Setsuna's smile. "Wonderful. Well, shall we look at our menus?"

A half an hour later the waitress delivered two plates of sashimi as Setsuna continued to giggle at one of Kihomi's anecdotes. The teacher and she found that they both shared a love for history (of course, as Sailor Pluto, Setsuna had seen most of it first hand from the timegate) as well as a similar taste in literature. Michiru and Haruka had given Setsuna permission to tell her that the racecar driver was a woman and they were a gay couple, and she had talked a bit about her family life. Kihomi had responded with stories of her childhood and the crazy antics she and her friends used to get into.

It was a story about a kid at her school who had called her a rezu (dyke), and how she'd retaliated by sneaking into his shop class after school with a jar of Gorilla Glue to stick a table he'd spent three weeks making to the ceiling that had the Time Senshi laughing.

As her date finally stopped laughing, Kihomi broke her chopsticks apart and took a bite.

"You know," she said after swallowing, "You have a very cute laugh."

Setsuna looked at her date a bit surprised. Cute? It was not usually a word associated with the Senshi of Time.

"Thanks." she said, blushing a bit. Kihomi noted the sudden pink tinge to Setsuna's cheeks and smiled. It had taken a while to draw the young woman out, but now that she had she found Setsuna to be a wonderful table companion.

"So, do you have any humorous stories about your friends?" Kihomi asked conspiratorially, "I mean, I've been telling you about some of my adventures from my misspent youth, surely you've got some humorous stories you could tell."

Setsuna thought about it. She'd never been known as one with a quick joke or wry story. But then she thought about a certain blond who would one day rule Crystal Tokyo, and a wide smile lit up her face.

------

Rei frowned. It was happening again. She was a Sailor Senshi, a defender of the earth. How could she just ignore what she knew was a threat to all of them.

"You're feeling it again, aren't you?" Makoto asked. The young woman was staying at the temple with the priestess to keep an eye on her.

Rei nodded. "It's bad, whatever it is. I hate this, Mako-chan. I feel so helpless."

Makoto put an understanding hand on her shoulder. "I know." she said sympathetically, "I know."

------

"But I can't just sit here!" Michiru protested. She was about to argue further when Haruka stroked her hair and gave her a sad look.

"Michi-chan, please." she said in a tone Michiru had only rarely heard from her wife, "You're... You're everything to me. I can't watch you suffer like that again, unable to help you, unable to take away the pain. It'll only be for a little while, just until we have a handle of what we're up against. Please." she added in a pleading tone.

Michiru looked at her wife in silence. The blond usually kept everything so bottled up, only showing a cool exterior, that to find out the extent seeing her suffering had hurt Haruka surprised her a bit.

"O... Okay." she finally conceded, "For now."

Haruka smiled sadly as she embraced the Senshi of the Seas.

Elsewhere in Tokyo, chanting could be heard over the low hum of a large machine in a warehouse.

------

The two women laughed jovially as they walked out into the parking lot.

"So then what happened?" Kihomi asked, listening to her date's story.

"Well... Well then Usagi, whose job it was to give Haruka the ring to put on Michiru's finger, she... she..." Setsuna began to laugh uncontrollably as she thought back to the event she was recounting. "She put the ring on her own finger so she wouldn't forget or lose it. So the time comes, Ruka turns to Usagi to get Michi's ring, and... and... and Usagi couldn't get it off her finger!" she said before both she and Kihomi began laughing uncontrollably. As they laughed, Kihomi put her hand on Setsuna's shoulder, leaning a bit toward her as she did so. Setsuna put her arm around the other woman, pulling her in a bit closer as they continued to laugh.

Kihomi turned to Setsuna, both women's laughter dying away as they looked into each other's eyes. Smiling, the teacher reached over to cup Setsuna's cheek in her hand. Setsuna could feel her heart beat faster as the woman leaned forward to kiss her, gently pressing her lips to Setsuna's.

Setsuna closed her eyes as Kihomi brought her other hand up as well, cradling the Senshi's face in her hands. As Setsuna lost herself in the moment her date breathed in her perfume, noting with satisfaction that she had worn the same scent as when she met her with her family the day before.

At last separating their lips, Kihomi kept her hands on the slightly shorter woman's face as she stroked her cheeks with her thumbs.

"So," she said in a low tone, "How did that feel?"

Setsuna felt warm all over. The kiss had been sweet and tender, just as Kihomi herself had been all throughout the date. She looked at her date, at her mesmerizing grey eyes and kind face, and smiled fondly as she brought her own arms around the teacher.

"Nice." she said, finally breaking the awkward silence. "It... It felt nice."

Kihomi returned the smile. "I'm glad." she answered, quickly adding, "We don't have to go any further tonight if you don't want to. I..." Kihomi was cut off as Setsuna herself initiated a second kiss. Caught a bit off guard, she soon joined in. As she felt Setsuna's arms tighten a bit around her, she decided to take a chance and open her mouth just a crack. After a few seconds, her date followed suit and likewise opened her mouth a bit.

Cautiously, Kihomi slid the tip of her tongue into Setsuna's mouth.

Almost immediately she felt Setsuna tense up. Kihomi began to fear she may have jumped the gun, until she felt her date's tongue tentatively touching her own. She slowly slid her tongue in a bit further as she put her right hand behind the Senshi's head.

Setsuna let out a soft moan as Kihomi began to encircle her tongue with her own. She'd been alone so long, without someone to share her heart with, and always putting duty first. She thought of Michiru's words now, that no one was meant to be alone, as she continued to embrace her date. She now knew what it was like to feel another holding her, touching her, caring for her. She hoped tonight never had to end.

Unfortunately, that's when she felt it.

It went surging through her being, bringing her back down to earth. She reluctantly pushed herself away from the embrace.

Kihomi felt her pull back, pushing away from her. She looked into her date's violet eyes seeking an explanation.

"I... I'm sorry." Setsuna said sadly, "I have to go."

Kihomi could feel a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "What did I do wrong?" she asked, hurt and confused. "Did I push you too fast, or..."

"No." Setsuna said as she felt the second surge ten seconds after the first, "You didn't do anything wrong. I can't explain, but please believe me, I..." a third jolt ran through her, and she turned and ran to find a place to transform.

Kihomi watched her run off before turning back toward her car. Reaching the small vehicle, she took out her keys to unlock the door and got in. Sitting in the driver's seat, she leaned her forehead against the steering wheel and let out a groan.

"Shit." she muttered, "What just happened?"

Before she could wallow any further in self-pity, her head began throbbing in pain again. She began to whimper as she realized what was going to come next.

"Join us."

"Hasten the Manifestation."

"Join us."

She closed her eyes tightly as she wept, the pain and the voices coming together to create a symphony of pain. Opening her eyes, she looked in the rearview mirror.

There, standing behind the car, was the ghostly form of a nude man slowly cutting himself with a knife.

"Join us." he mouthed.

Clutching the sides of her head, she turned to look out the rear window. No one was there. Turning back to the front windshield she let out a frightened cry as she saw the image of a different nude man holding a large sword, with women on either side of him cutting themselves with small blades. He raised the sword and pointed it at her.

"You dare not refuse!" he shouted just before he and the women disappeared.

Allowing a final cry of pain to escape, Kihomi slipped off into unconsciousness.

-To be continued-


	6. Chapter 6

-Minerva-

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters other than the original ones I created for this story.

------

-6-

_Do we call woman whore? Ay, verily and amen, she is that; the air shudders and burns as we shout it, exulting and eager._

_O ye! Was not this your sneer, your vile whisper that scorned her and shamed her? Was not "whore" the truth of her, the title of terror that you gave in your fear of her, coward comforting coward with furtive glances and gesture?_

_But we fear her not; we cry whore, as her armies approach us. We beat on our shields with our swords. Earth echoes the clamor!_

Excerpt from The Law is for All by Aleister Crowley.

----

---The Silver Millennium---

There was no military per se on the small planet. None was needed. Under Minerva's guiding hand there'd never been any wars, and without nearby hostile neighbors there was little necessity for any armed militias. There was however an ever present threat from the asteroids and comets swirling around in the Kuiper Belt, and the planet did have a defense system to defend itself from such outer space disasters.

It was this network of defenses that the enemy warships attacked first. By the time Minerva had exited what was left of the emissarial ship, these defenses were already destroyed and the enemy had already begun to open fire on her palace and her unarmed subjects.

She looked around at her once beautiful capital city, now little more than ashes and corpses. She then looked up at the hundreds of ships darkening her sky. Clutching her magical shield at her side, she launched herself into the air towards the unknown enemy who had destroyed all she loved and held dear. As she approached them, a yellow ball of light began to form between her hands.

---

From the mother ship, Commander Yukio smiled as he saw the ships of his fleet spread out around the small planet below him. As the blue-skinned warlord watched, missile after missile burst on the planet's surface. The once beautiful green planet slowly began to take on a dull brownish-red hue, as the explosions began to trigger volcanic activity. It would soon be over, he thought with a chuckle. They would then move on and...

Just then a warning siren began to blare out over the ships intercom. From the bottom left corner of the view screen, Yukio saw first one, and then three more warships explode as a small golden-yellow orb moved with incredible speed from the surface of the planet, firing some sort of small projectiles at his fleet. The orb then began flying back and forth from one ship to the next, swerving and weaving around the laser fire being aimed at it as it continued to take ships out.

"Ensign!" Commander Yukio barked, "Get me magnification of the enemy, now!"

The image on the view screen went in for a closer look. The image of a woman warrior in a golden skirt appeared on the screen, a bronze shield on her left arm and she appeared to be yelling something. Each time she did, a large yellow ball containing hundreds of long electric blue arrows materialized on their own, white sparks of static electricity encircling the shafts and arrow points. As she threw the ball and sent her projectiles flying, they exploded on impact with the warships, tearing them apart.

She moved so fast, and sent her arrows with such speed, that the ensign soon lost sight of the warrior. The commander's jaw dropped. He'd faced battlefields before, fought in dozens of campaigns, but never had he seen the likes of this.

"P... Pull the view back." he managed to stutter out, "Get me a long shot."

The long shot revealed that their mission had been a success. The planet's surface had been transformed from a green paradise into a red-hot hell. Unfortunately, he'd lost almost his entire fleet. Worse yet, the thing from the planet's surface was beginning to come toward his command vessel.

---

"War Arrows!" she screamed, sending yet another of the ships to oblivion.

Tears, warm and bitter, fell down Minerva's face. She could no longer feel her people; no longer sense her subjects calling to her to save them. The voices of planet Minerva had been silenced forever in a preemptive attack by these monsters from deep space. Waves of sorrow washed over her as she realized she had failed her people; there was no one left to save. Her people's culture; their music, their festivals, even their language, were now no more. As she looked at the three remaining warships and their command ship, her eyes narrowed angrily as she clenched her fists. For Minerva, there was nothing left but vengeance.

Before she could extract it, however, something came flying up towards her from the surface of the planet. Slamming into her force field, it took her momentarily by surprise. Dark, sinister energy swirled around the object as it reached out and penetrated through the protective field, swiping downward and cutting deep into her left shoulder blade before flinging her back down to the planet's surface. The thing watched with glee as a small impact crater formed where she landed. It then flew down after her.

As Minerva slowly began to crawl out of the crater, she winced at the pain from the gaping wound in her shoulder, as well as the three broken ribs she'd received upon impact with the planet's surface. If not for her shield, she would be dead now. Clutching her ribs, she forced herself back up on her feet as she looked up to see something surrounded by a black ball of energy come towards her. When less than fifty feet away, the energy dissipated to reveal the form of her chancellor Maiya frowning angrily at her, blood dripping from the nails of her right hand.

"You filthy bitch!" she spat out at the princess, "My fleet. You've destroyed my fleet! No matter, princess; victory shall still be mine!"

Minerva shook her head in dismay at what she was seeing and hearing. "M... Maiya..." she gasped out, each breath a new experience in pain as one of her ribs had punctured her left lung "Why?"

The thing in front of her smiled as its eyes glowed red. "Sorry princess, Maiya no longer exists. There is only **me** now."

"W... What... are you?" Minerva managed to get out. She could feel her knees buckling beneath her as a small pool of blood started to form at her feet from her shoulder wound.

"I am the cosmic whore," the thing answered, "the scarlet woman who drinks deep of the cup of my abominations. I am incest and rape and murder and adultery and the lust for power and riches that lead to madness. **I AM BABYLON**, and I claim this planet and the rest of this small solar system for my own!"

---South Orange Grove, Texas---

---June 19, 1952---

Personal journal of John Whiteside (Jack) Parsons

--

_I've been tricked._

_We've all been tricked. Crowley, the members of the O.T.O., myself. We were all patsies, all mere marionettes being played by higher intelligences. No, not intelligences; a single intelligence. I look at my work from six years ago with disgust and loathing. I had such high hopes for the future of mankind through the liberation Babylon was to bring. I can still remember the late nights, utilizing the Enochian Tablet of Air as I and my then brothers and sisters in the O.T.O. tried to give substance to the elemental summons._

_I learned too late that Babylon was no goddess, no shining star of freedom and liberation. Too late, I learned I'd become the butt of a cosmic joke. Her cosmic joke._

_Three years ago with the hope of using darkness to battle darkness, I took the Oath of the Abyss, and took the new magical name Belarion Armiluss Al Dajjal AntiChrist._

_Needless to say, it didn't work. The magical child simply absorbed the darkness into itself, becoming more powerful._

_The thing must die. Now, before it becomes any more powerful._

_Tomorrow, I'll be moving some explosives in my garage laboratory. The U.S. government is interested in some of my recent experiments with fulminate of mercury. Once I have the volatile material safely stored away, I intend to take my thirty-eight caliber and find the monster. What becomes of me is no longer important. It must end now._

--

---Tokyo, the Present---

Haruka held Michiru close as they watched the concert on T.V. Michiru hadn't spoken much over the last hour, and her wife was nervous about breaking the silence. From upstairs, they heard their daughter Hotaru coming down the stairs.

"Is Setsuna-mama home yet?" the teen asked, anxious for any news about the date one of her moms was having with her teacher.

"No, and shouldn't you be in bed?" Haruka asked, "Tonight's a school night, remember?"

Michiru nodded in agreement. "You can find out all about it tomorrow morning hon. Now go get some sleep."

"I will." their daughter said, "I just hope everything went alright for her."

"We all do." Haruka answered, "Good night."

As they both heard Hotaru go back upstairs and her bedroom door shut, Haruka turned to Michiru and finally broke the silence.

"I'm sorry Michi-chan." she began, "I know you're upset and disappointed in me, but I couldn't bear the thought of you suffering anymore, not like you did yesterday."

Michiru smiled at Haruka as she brushed a few of the blonde's bangs back. "I know you worry about me dear, and I love you for it. But you have to remember; I am a Senshi. I'm not made of glass, and I'm not going to break every time something attacks me."

Before Haruka could respond, Setsuna entered through the front door. Michiru turned to her friend with a smile. The smile quickly faded when she saw the woman's dejected face as she took off her shoes to enter the house. She picked the pair of high heels up and sullenly set them to the side next to the doorframe. She then closed the door, leaning her head against the wood as she sighed deeply.

"Sets?" Haruka asked, likewise concerned by the Time Senshi's behavior. She removed her arm from around Michiru as she got up off the couch to go over to the morose looking woman, "Sets, what happened?"

Setsuna looked at the handsome tomboy in her dress shirt and black slacks, and slowly shook her head.

"Why?" she asked as her voice began to crack, "Why am I destined to always be alone, bereft of companionship or comfort. Why... am I..." she broke down and started to weep. Haruka took Setsuna in her strong arms as Michiru rushed over to likewise comfort her.

"What happened?" Michiru asked.

"We... We were having a wonderful time. She was so sweet, and I... we kissed, and... And the timegate... I had to leave her."

Michiru gave Haruka a look, and the blond nodded and went off to the kitchen. The Sea Senshi was always better in these situations, and while she was comforting Setsuna, Haruka began to fix them all something to drink.

"She'll never want to see me again." Setsuna whimpered, "Why? Why am I cursed with the timegate?"

Michiru was about to offer words of comfort when something suddenly occurred to her. "Setsuna, when did you feel the call of the timegate?"

Setsuna sniffed as she looked at her friend funny. "Around ten." she answered, "Why?"

"Because I felt something just around the same time." she said, "And yesterday you were called away when I was attacked, and the day before that it was when Rei was knocked out."

Setsuna's eyes widened as she began to comprehend what Michiru was getting at. "You think there's a connection?" she asked as she wiped away her tears. The Sea Senshi nodded.

"Look, now that we know there's a possible connection, it leaves us a little bit less in the dark. As for you and Kihomi, you need to talk with her."

"Michi-chan's right." Haruka said as she entered the room with two small wine glasses, passing one to each of her fellow Senshi. "At the very least, just tell her you were sorry to leave like that."

"You're right." she said. "I'll call right now."

"I don't know if that would be such a great idea." Michiru said, "It's getting late."

Haruka nodded, "Talk with her tomorrow. If she's as nice as you say, I'm sure she'll understand."

Setsuna smiled sadly. "Thank you." she said. She gave Haruka back the wine glass without having sipped anything from it and slowly went upstairs to her room.

---The Next Day---

"A leave of absence?" Principal Hoashi Daisuke asked as he wiped his glasses with a handkerchief.

"Yes, Hoashi-sempai. For medical reasons." Kihomi answered glumly. Everything had been going so wonderfully for the teacher; she'd earned her teacher's diploma, had landed a job, and it looked like she'd found the love of her life. Then her date ran away, she began to hallucinate about voices and naked people with knives and swords cutting themselves, and she ended up waking up this morning behind the wheel of her car with dried blood clotted down her face and the sides of her neck from her nose and ears.

How had everything gone so wrong?

From behind his desk, the principal nodded understandingly.

"Yes, I heard from the janitor Nobuhiro-san all about the incident last Friday." he said as he put his glasses back on, "It's a shame that this kind of thing has to happen to a young teacher such as yourself, especially in her first year before she's earned tenure. We can have a substitute take over your classes by tomorrow, of course, but we would need you for today, if you think you're up to it."

"Yes sempai, I'm up to it." she answered. Daisuke noticed the young teacher's melancholy tone and quickly gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Saito-sama; you'll have a job when you're ready to come back. I promise you that. In the short time you've been here you've managed to win over both the students and the faculty. Teachers like you are indispensable in a school like this."

Kihomi returned the smile as she bowed in her seat, "Thank you sempai." she said, blushing at the compliment.

"Of course. Just be sure to keep us all updated as far as your health is concerned."

"Yes, sempai. I will, sempai."

------

Rei woke up feeling miserable. There was something out there threatening not just her, but everyone else, and she was being ordered not to pursue the matter. Looking over across from her at the family shrine, she saw the picture of her late grandfather and frowned. Whatever was out there was powerful, and even if she couldn't have sought help from the old man, it would've been a comfort to have him around right now.

As she walked from her bedroom to the kitchen, she could hear the sounds of someone frying something in a pan. Entering the room, she saw Makoto fixing eggs and bacon in a skillet for them.

"Makoto?" Rei asked, "You stayed over last night?"

The cook shrugged her shoulders, "You looked like you could use the company, and I didn't have any plans for today."

Nodding, Rei looked over to the kitchen table where a paperback translation of Edith Hamilton's Mythology was resting. She picked up the book and examined it.

"Is this yours?" she asked.

Makoto looked over from her skillet and nodded, "I was, well, reading about Minerva. Rei, I hate to agree with Usagi on this, but if there is a Sailor Minerva out there somewhere, chances are she's not the one attacking us."

Rei raised her eyebrow, "Oh?" she asked. "And what makes you say that?"

"Minerva is the Roman name for the Goddess Athena. She was a goddess of war, but also of wisdom and reason. The Greeks credited her with protecting civilized life. It just doesn't make sense that a Senshi named after a goddess like that would be attacking others from a distance psychically, does it?"

Rei just shook her head.

"She's named after a goddess of war." The Shinto priestess reminded her, "Until we come face-to-face with her, how are we to know what a 'Senshi of War' would or wouldn't do? By the way, this is somewhat unusual reading material for you, isn't it? Where'd you get it?"

Makoto shrugged her shoulders as she began to dish the food out onto the plates. "Ami loaned it to me. Why."

"Oh, I see." Rei said with a quirky smile. Makoto looked over to the priestess.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Mako-chan, you and Ami may have the others fooled, but you didn't honestly think I wasn't going to figure it out, did you?"

The cook felt her breath catch in her throat, "You're not going to tell, are you?"

Rei looked hurt, "What? No, of course not. But you really should tell the others what's going on between you two."

"We plan to." Makoto said as she set the two plates down on the table, "Just as soon as we know what's going on between us." she quipped before sitting down across from Rei to eat.

---Afternoon---

"And tomorrow you will have a new teacher coming in for a while, while I go on a leave of absence for... personal reasons. I expect you all to treat the new teacher with the same level of respect you've given me during my short stay here." As Kihomi struggled with delivering her speech for the fourth time that day, a hand went up. "Yes Watsuki-san, you have a question?"

The young man stood up from his desk, "Sensei, how long will you be gone?"

The teacher suddenly looked very sad. "I don't know." she admitted just as the bell rang for class to end. As the last student left, she turned away from the classroom door and sighed. If she tried to focus on everything that was happening to her right now, it became too overwhelming. Her health and her social life were in the toilet. If only she hadn't pushed Setsuna last night. She didn't think she was, but obviously she had, and in the process had driven the young woman away. And now...

Kihomi blocked it all out of her mind as she began erasing the blackboard. From behind her, she could hear the classroom door open. No doubt either a fellow teacher or a student had decided to say goodbye to her. She felt like crying. Why was this happening to her? Why now? This was going to be hard enough without a bunch of well wishers trying to cheer her up before she left. With a resigned sigh she turned to see who it was.

There, standing in the doorframe to her classroom, stood Setsuna.

"Hello." Setsuna offered weakly. She couldn't bring herself to look at those beautiful grey eyes staring back at her. She was too afraid of the look of anger she felt sure was waiting for her there.

"Hello." Kihomi offered back. She sadly noted that the attractive woman in front of her was avoiding eye contact. She bit her lower lip as she waited for her to say whatever she felt needed to be said. As she watched, Setsuna shifted her weight from one shapely leg to the other.

"May I come in?" the Senshi nervously asked. Kihomi nodded as she motioned for her to enter. As Setsuna walked in, the teacher walked over to the door and locked it. She then lowered the blind on the door's glass window and turned to see Setsuna watching her silently from in front of the large desk at the front of the room.

"So." the Senshi muttered.

"So." Kihomi answered back.

In the awkward silence that followed, the teacher watched as the woman fidgeted a bit with her jacket sleeve. Setsuna then stared down at the tile floor.

"I overheard outside the door. You... You're leaving?"

Kihomi took a deep breath, "Yes, for a little while." she answered.

"Oh." Setsuna said flatly. Now it was Kihomi's turn to look away as she rubbed the back of her head with her hand.

"Look, Setsuna, about last night..."

"You must hate me, don't you?"

The teacher was caught completely off guard by the question. Setsuna looked up from the floor as tears started to form at the corners of her violet eyes.

"I... I can't say that I blame you. I never meant to leave you like that, to run away and hurt you. I didn't want to go. You have to believe me, Kihomi... I wanted to stay with you. I've... never felt this way about anyone before. You're sweet and compassionate and... and..." she paused as a tear ran down her cheek, "Please don't turn me away." she whispered, "I... I've been so alone for so long. I'm sorry. Please don't... leave... because of me..."

Setsuna was cut off as Kihomi crossed the room and took her in her arms. As she held her the shorter woman buried her head in her shoulder. She could feel Setsuna softly shudder as she began to weep. She started to run her fingers through the woman's long, silky hair as she held her close.

"Shhh..." Kihomi whispered, "It's okay. I'm not leaving because of you. Honest"

Setsuna looked into Kihomi's kind face. The teacher gently wiped away her tears with her index finger.

"And... And I thought all this time you were upset with me." Kihomi said as she stroked the Senshi's cheek. "I was afraid I was the one who drove you away."

Setsuna looked at the other woman in surprise. "Really?" she asked.

The teacher nodded. "Setsuna, you're the most wonderful woman I've ever met. You're incredibly intelligent, you have a beautiful laugh, and a lovely personality. When you rushed off yesterday, I was afraid that I'd pushed you away."

Setsuna looked at her questioningly. "Then why are you going on a leave of absence?"

Kihomi swallowed hard, "Medical reasons." she admitted.

The Senshi pulled away and looked at her in alarm, "Medical reasons? What kind of medical reasons? Kihomi, what's going on?"

"I... I wish I knew." The teacher said sadly, "I've been having these incredibly severe migraines for the last three nights. No, not migraines; more than migraines. Yesterday and last Friday there... there was blood as well, coming from my nose and ears. I don't know if it's a possible aneurism or maybe a tumor, but the local hospital can't find anything. And now..." Kihomi hesitated before going on, "Now I'm starting to hallucinate during the attacks. I can't go on like this, I just can't. There's supposed to be a good hospital in Nagoya. Hopefully they can tell me what's going on."

Setsuna felt her heart sink for the woman in front of her. "You... You had another one of these attacks last night?"

Kihomi nodded glumly, "Just after you left." she said.

The guilt-ridden Senshi shook her head as she looked at the teacher. "I should've been there." she said, "I should've stayed." She'd always felt the obligations of being the Senshi of Time, of having to watch over the timegate, but she'd never felt it to be such a painful burden until now. Kihomi had been in pain, suffering intensely, and she'd been unable to help her.

The other woman put her index finger under Setsuna's chin as she gently stroked the soft skin under her jaw.

"You didn't know, Setsuna." Kihomi said, her grey eyes full of compassion, "Don't beat yourself up about this." she added as she kissed her on the forehead. Setsuna responded by kissing her on the cheek.

"When are you leaving?" Setsuna asked.

"Tomorrow morning." Kihomi answered as she softly stroked Setsuna's cheek, wiping her tears away with her thumb. "It'll only be for a little while. For the rest of today though, I'm all yours." she said as she brought her lips to hers.

The two women wrapped their arms around one another as they deepened the kiss. As Setsuna tilted her head a bit, Kihomi opened her eyes a crack to look up at the wall clock.

"Setsuna-chan." Kihomi whispered as she broke the kiss, "My next class starts soon." she said sadly.

Setsuna looked at her with a pained expression for a second or two before nodding her head.

"I... I understand." she answered. Kihomi stroked her cheek as she reached into her pocket for a tissue and quickly wiped off the lipstick smudges from Setsuna's face.

"I only have three more classes. After that, I'm all yours. Honest."

Setsuna smiled at her as they both separated. From her purse she pulled out the same small notebook she'd used two days ago at the mall and wrote down her home address. She then ripped the page out and handed it over to the teacher.

"Come over after classes." she said. "I'll be waiting for you." Kihomi took the slip and smiled at the woman giving it to her.

"I will. I promise." she said as she showed the beautiful young woman to the door. After she left, Kihomi raced to her desk, pulled out her compact from her purse, and fixed up her hair and makeup just in time for the next class.

------

The smell of the sea was coming in from the harbor, filling her nostrils. She walked by a drunk who was passed out sleeping next to a garbage can and two teenage boys looking through a stolen pornographic magazine as she came to the entrance. Entering, she found one of the female members of the circle shooting up as another member, completely ignoring the junkie, played solitaire with a pack of tarot cards.

Walking past the large machine of Professor Miyagawa, Beniko came to a back room in the giant warehouse. Opening the door, she saw the redhead curled up on the couch, using her leather jacket as a makeshift blanket. The plan had been so simple; she'd made out the contract, signing it in her own blood. Marika would help until the new Senshi was found, and then she would use the Senshi's power to break the contract.

So how had this happened?

How had she fallen in love with the redhead?

Marika sniffed the air before yawning, her forked tongue clearly visible in her open mouth. Opening her eyes a bit, she smiled as she saw Beniko. As the blond came over, she sat up to give her room to sit on the couch. Beniko took the offered spot, pulling Marika's head back down so she could use her lap as a pillow. As she ran her fingers through the woman's red hair and heard her softly purr, she frowned.

It had been so simple.

Exactly when had it become so complicated?

------

Hotaru got off the bus and ran over to her house where Haruka's convertible sat parked in the driveway, her papa looking over the engine under the hood. At the sounds of her footsteps, the sandy-blond turned around.

"Hey firefly." she greeted with a smile.

"Hey papa" Hotaru answered, "Any luck yet on finding the tenth Senshi?"

"No, and I wish everyone would stop referring to her as 'the tenth.' I mean, Galaxia was a Senshi, and so was Princess Kakyuu and her three pet idiots, remember?"

Hotaru rolled her eyes, "You know what we all mean, papa."

"Yeah, I know. So, you ready to learn that 'grease monkey stuff'?"

Hotaru mock pouted, "I'd hoped you'd forgotten about that oil change

stuff." she said.

"No such luck. Get some beat-up old clothes on and get back out here." Haruka said as she sat down on a creeper lying next to the car.

Hotaru smiled as she ran inside to change. For all her teasing, she'd been looking forward to this time together with her papa as much as Haruka was. The two shared a very special father-daughter type of relationship, and both cherished these moments when the Formula-one racecar driver was able to set aside time just to bond with the junior high student.

As Hotaru closed the door behind her and Haruka pushed herself underneath the vehicle, a car pulled up to the house, parking next to the curb in front of the lawn. Haruka, who was under the car and hadn't heard the other vehicle pull up, now heard footsteps in the driveway close by.

"That was fast." she mumbled to herself as she reached for the drain pan. "Are you ready?" she called out from under the car.

Kihomi stopped dead in her tracks, afraid that she was hearing voices and another attack was imminent. She did a quick survey of her body and realized there was no intense pain this time.

"Bring the toolbox over, and grab the extra creeper for yourself."

She looked down to see a pair or legs sticking out from underneath the vehicle next to her and put her hand on her chest as she took a quick breath of relief. Looking around, she found the toolbox and creeper in question lying near a bird bath in the lawn and brought them over.

"Well, don't just stand there. Grab the socket set and the filter wrench, and then get under here with me already."

Kihomi raised her eyebrow at that. Setsuna had told her a bit about Haruka, her love for cars, and her quirky sense of humor. She didn't know how she was expected to take this call for help. She didn't want to get her suit dirty, but at the same time she didn't want Setsuna's friends or family to think of her as a stuffed shirt either. Removing a scrunchie from her pocket, she tied her hair up, took the socket set and the oil filter wrench Haruka had requested and lay down on the creeper. As three pairs of eyes watched from the living room window, Kihomi pushed herself under the vehicle next to Haruka.

The blond took out the socket handle from the box offered her and held it up to the undercarriage. "This is the drain plug." she said, using the handle as a pointer, "This is the oil filter, and this is the drain pan. Now, what do you do first?"

"First you put the drain pan under the drain plug, then you unscrew the plug and let the old oil flow into the pan, then you change the oil filter, re-screw the plug back in, and fill the vehicle with new oil."

Haruka turned to the speaker with a surprised look. "Saito-sama?" she asked, "What are you doing under here?"

Kihomi smiled, "You told me to bring over the tools and the creeper to..."

Haruka started to laugh, "That's because I thought you were Hotaru." she said.

Kihomi started to giggle as well, "Oh, I see. Well, Setsuna had told me about your sense of humor, so when I heard you tell me to come under here, I thought..."

"Don't drag me into this." a voice said from above. Both women pushed themselves out from under the car to see Setsuna, Hotaru and Michiru smirking down at them.

Ten minutes later, after everyone had stopped laughing, Michiru went back into the house as Haruka and Hotaru went underneath the convertible. Setsuna got into the passenger seat of Kihomi's car next to the teacher as she started up the vehicle.

"So," Kihomi said, "You have me for the rest of the day. Where do you want to go?"

Setsuna thought for a second. This blissful feeling she felt with

Kihomi; was she really allowed it as the Time Senshi? She was the Guardian of the Gates of Time, daughter of Chronos, and hers was always to be a solitary existence, or so she thought.

Closing her eyes, she stretched out her consciousness looking for an answer from the fates. The response she got back from the fates however was completely unexpected. No condemnations, no disapproval, no reproof to her relationship with the teacher. Instead, she received a very different response from the fates.

Joy.

More than joy; a feeling of a long overdue happiness, as if she and Kihomi had always been meant for one another, but somehow had been kept apart until now. The fates were smiling happily upon her and her relationship.

She opened her eyes again and smiled at the woman next to her, happier than she'd ever felt.

"Your place." she finally answered, "I... I want to go to your place."

Kihomi felt her heart skip a beat. "Are you sure?" she asked.

Setsuna nodded with a smile, "I've never been so sure of anything in my life." she replied.

Kihomi smiled as she nodded. A few seconds later, the car had pulled out from the curb into traffic as the two women headed to the teacher's apartment.

---To Be Continued---

End Notes: Just a bit of a change of pace for a chapter. Don't worry- things go back to being nuts again next time around.


	7. Chapter 7

-Minerva-

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters other than the original ones I created for this story.

-7-

_If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky that would be the splendor of the Mighty One..._

_I am become death, the destroyer of worlds._

The Bhagavad-Gita, chapter eleven.

---The Silver Millennium---

Minerva looked in horror at the being now floating in the air in front of her. "Maiya..." she gasped, clutching her ribs in pain, "If you're in there, fight it."

The thing that was once the princess' chancellor laughed. "Pathetic." she hissed, "I am Babylon, not some trifling little spirit. She can no more fight my control than you could resuscitate your subjects back to life. I will kill you Minerva, leaving nothing behind but a dead husk of rock where your kingdom once was. Then I will go with what's left of my fleet and I will do the same with each of the other worlds, starting with the next closest, Pluto.

Minerva's grey eyes widened at that, as Babylon's cruel smile widened, "Oh yes, Minerva. The princess in that picture you seem to like so much, she will be the next to die by my hands. Then all the others will fall, just like you; with the screams of their subjects ringing in their ears."

The princess looked at the monster before her as she clenched her fists. "No." she growled out in an almost guttural voice. Her people were dead, and even without Babylon carrying out her threat, the monarch felt fairly certain her injuries were terminal. She was going to die no matter what, a failure to her people. But, perhaps, if she could defeat this thing here, she could still save her "sisters."

She would do it. She would give her life for theirs.

"**NO!**" she screamed, launching herself at the demon with incredible speed. Grabbing the demon off-guard, it took a second or two for her to summon up the dark field around herself once again. By that point, the two of them were already three-quarters of the way to the mothership. Babylon, realizing what Minerva had in mind, began desperately striking out at her through the Senshi's force field, slashing and hitting her as she tried to kill her before they reached the control ship.

From the bridge, all Commander Yukio had time to see on the view screen was two balls of energy, one gold and one black, headed straight for his ship. Before he could even react, the two crashed into the control room with all the force of a small bomb before crashing through the back of the room on their way to the warp engine. Some of the crew were killed instantly, while others were either sucked out into space due to the sudden decompression or pulled after the two battling women. Minerva ignored her now broken cheekbone and her two black eyes as she closed in on her goal. If this ship was in any way similar to the ship the emissaries from Neptune had used, the engine was close by. Babylon sunk her claws deep into Minerva's abdomen, ripping it open and in effect disemboweling her just as they finally reached the warp drive.

"War arrows! War arrows! War arrows! **WAR ARROWS!**" the Senshi screamed.

The resulting explosion destroyed not only the mother ship, but the other three war vessels nearby, and left a large circular scorch mark on planet Minerva's surface. Her host body destroyed, the shockwaves sent Babylon deep into the outer recesses of Space.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of miles away, the ruler of Pluto suddenly felt an intense, inexplicable sadness overtake her. Unable to account for the sudden melancholy, she shook it off as she went back to check up on the timegate.

---South Orange Grove, Texas---

---June 20, 1952---

Jack Parson's was working in his laboratory alone when, at 5:08 PM, the place blew up. The explosion killed the scientist and magician instantly.

The official cause of death was that he had simply dropped a container of fulminate of mercury, but none of his friends seemed to buy this explanation. Various occult writers have provided alternate theories to account for his demise, but of course none proved correct.

Only one person knew the truth.

And she wasn't telling.

---Tokyo, the Present---

She closed her eyes tight as she felt the other woman explore her body tenderly, almost reverently with her hands, her mouth, and her tongue. She took a quick intake of air as she clutched onto her partner's long brown hair, arching her back as she felt something build up within her. She could feel her muscles begin to tighten up, and her breath was now coming in quick pants. Her pelvis began to move in rhythm with her lover's movements, and as the heat rising up in her reached a crescendo she opened her mouth and cried out as every muscle in her body went rigid. The intense sensation over, she went limp, physically drained from the experience.

As she lay on the bed panting for air, sweat beading off her brow, her partner poked her head out from underneath the covers and carefully turned her over onto her side. She then felt her partner lovingly pull her closer from behind so that her nude body was spooned up against hers. She was using the woman's right arm as a pillow, and she could feel her lover's breath against the nape of her neck. Her partner kissed her on the cheek as she brought her lips up to her ear.

"Setsuna." she heard Kihomi whisper as her left hand slowly caressed back and forth across her abdomen, "Sets-chan, are you alright?"

Setsuna nodded her head as she slowly felt herself recovering. "Kihomi." she said nervously.

"Yes?" the teacher asked as she kissed her along the jaw line.

She wondered if it was too soon, if Kihomi shared the feelings or would pull back from her if she said it. She was scared, but even so she felt the need to give voice to her feelings. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and blurted out what was in her heart.

"I love you."

There was silence in the room as neither woman moved a muscle. Then, after a few agonizing seconds, she felt herself being hugged tighter by the woman behind her.

"I love you too Setsuna-chan." Kihomi answered, "With all my heart."

Setsuna closed her eyes and smiled as she felt her lover's naked body against her back, and she began to wiggle a bit as she settled into Kihomi's embrace. She felt so safe, so happy in her arms.

As the teacher heard Setsuna's breath slow down a bit, she glanced quickly over to the small clock on the table by the bed. It was five o'clock. As she continued to rub her hand slowly across the woman's smooth flat abs, she smiled to herself. If she had to leave tomorrow to go to some hospital off in Nagoya, she couldn't think of anything else she'd rather be doing than this, or anyone else she'd rather be with. Kihomi kissed Setsuna's shoulder as the Senshi let out a contented sigh.

"Setsuna-chan?"

"Hmmm..."

"You're awful quiet. What are you thinking?"

"I... didn't get much sleep last night." she admitted. The night had been long and painful for Setsuna, who had been brooding over leaving Kihomi the way she did, to say nothing of the fact that someone had gained access to the timegate yet again. "And I'm thinking that, as comfortable as I am right now, I could very easily fall asleep if I'm not careful."

"Well, it's five now. I have nowhere else to be if you want to take a nap."

Setsuna turned her head to look back at Kihomi, "Really?" she asked, "You wouldn't mind?"

The teacher chuckled a bit, "Of course not." she said, leaning over to kiss her lover on the cheek, "I'll wake you up at seven, and we can grab dinner or something."

Setsuna looked at the teacher's smiling face a few seconds before bringing her lips to the other woman's. Pulling back, she smiled as she lay her head back down on Kihomi's arm. Snuggled close in the teacher's embrace, she closed her eyes and was soon fast asleep.

------

As Beniko left the back room she and Marika had been sharing, she found Professor Miyagawa pacing impatiently as he waited for her. Raising an eyebrow, she walked over to the scientist as she heard the door to the room open behind her.

"Professor, what's wrong?" she asked. The professor gave her a worried look.

"Tomorrow night's the final night of the ritual, and we still need a sacrifice. We need a girl child without blemish, having never been touched by another, and with her virtue intact."

Beniko frowned. Virgins were generally much harder to find nowadays, and just because a girl said she was one was no guarantee of an intact hymen. Any young girl who would've protected her virtue in today's age was certainly not going to be a willing participant in any sacrificial sex rite.

She looked back over to the door, and saw Marika smiling.

"Marika?" she asked, "Could you find us a suitable sacrifice?"

The redhead nodded, tapping the side of her nose as she did so. She had her own motives for being involved in all this. Once the Senshi was trapped within the magical container, she would reveal her true agenda to all.

------

Hotaru walked from the den where Michiru was painting a still life to the living room where Haruka was silently watching the news.

"Papa?" she asked, "Is something wrong?"

The blond raised her eyebrow a bit, "What do you mean?"

Hotaru sat next to her, "You didn't talk much after Setsuna-mama and Kihomi-sama left. Papa, it may help if you talk about it."

Haruka gave the Senshi of Death an amused look, "Just when did you become the parent?" she quipped. Noticing her daughter's determined look, she sighed. "It's your Setsuna-mama." she admitted, "Both her and Kihomi looked so happy together when they left, and they seemed serious about each other. I guess I worry about what happens if they stay together and..."

"And you worry about when Kihomi-sama starts to age, while Setsuna-mama stays young?"

Haruka looked at her daughter and marveled at how mature the young girl was.

"Papa, they only just started dating. I think it's a little early to worry about things like that, but if and when the time comes to deal with it, we'll all be there for her and Kihomi-sama."

The blond looked at her daughter in silence for a few seconds before rubbing her head and messing up her hair.

"Okay, firefly; you win. We'll worry about it later. Where's your Michiru-mama?"

"Painting." Hotaru answered. Haruka flashed her a smile.

"Want to sneak some ice cream before dinner?" the racecar driver asked. Hotaru jokingly put her index finger up to her chin as if she was deep in thought.

"Hmmm... Make it two scoops?" the girl asked.

"Deal." the blond said with a smile as the two raced into the kitchen.

---7:10 PM---

Setsuna finished dressing and came out of Kihomi's bedroom to find the teacher leaning up against the wall looking at her.

"What?" the Senshi asked nervously.

The teacher just shook her head as she looked at her, "You're so beautiful, do you know that?"

Setsuna blushed at the compliment. "Thank you." she muttered. She then remembered something. "Kiho-chan, may I use your phone?"

------

Hotaru was on the phone with Usagi when she heard someone trying to get in on the other line. Having call holding, she put the blond on hold as she switched to the other line.

"Hello." she answered.

"Hotaru honey? How are you doing?"

"Setsuna-mama? I thought you were out on a date with Saito-sensei."

"I am, hon. I'm just calling in to check up."

"Oh. So how's the date going."

"Wonderful, hon. How'd your homework go?"

"Okay." Hotaru answered. She hesitated a bit and then asked, "Setsuna-mama, will you be in tonight to say goodnight like you normally do?"

There was a few seconds of silence before she finally heard, "Of course, hon. I'll be home around nine."

After a few more minutes, Setsuna said goodbye and switched back to Usagi.

"Sorry about that Odango, but Setsuna-mama was just calling in."

"Really?" the future queen asked, "So how's her date going?"

"From the sounds of it terrific. She's coming home around nine, and..."

"Really?" she asked excitedly, "Wow, I've got to call the others. We can't wait to meet her!"

"Usagi wait, I'm not sure she..."

"See you tonight, bye!" Usagi said as she hung up.

------

As Setsuna hung up the phone, she felt her girlfriend's arms encircle her. Smiling, she leaned back into the embrace.

"Nine o'clock?" Kihomi asked. The Senshi turned around so that she was facing her.

"Yes, if that's okay? It's just to say goodnight to my daughter. It's sort or a tradition we have."

Kihomi kissed her lightly on her lips, "Of course it's okay. Meanwhile, let me just go into the kitchen and fix us up something." she said as she turned away. Setsuna found her way into the living room and started looking through the teacher's books and film collection. She found a large group of DVDs together, and looked at them with interest.

"Kiho-chan?" she asked as she pulled one of the boxes out, "What's this?"

The teacher looked in from the kitchen and smiled, "It's a fan sub of a British sci-fi show. I'm a bit of an otaku for it, I'm afraid. I don't think you'd like it much, though."

Setsuna looked back at her, "Kihomi, I love you. Anything that interests you is interesting to me."

The teacher blushed warmly at that. After a quick dinner, the two found themselves sitting together watching the show.

"So," Setsuna began, "Does the Doctor always run around with that large scarf?"

Kihomi snickered a bit, "Well, this one does. There's actually been ten of them by now. At the end of this episode we'll go back to your place."

Setsuna nodded as she watched the program. The Time Senshi found this "Dr. Who" fellow fascinating. She felt her partner's arm around her, and smiled as she made a mental note to see the other two chapters of "City of Death" when Kihomi came back.

When Kihomi came back. She was leaving tomorrow. The thought suddenly sucked all the joy away from her.

"Kiho-chan?"

"Yes, Sets."

"I... I'm going to miss you." she said.

"I know." Kihomi said, "I'll miss you too. I'll try to call you from the hospital every day. It'll only be for a little while. And once I know what's happening..."

"You mean once _we_ know." Setsuna said with a determined tone in her voice, "I'm going to be there with you through this."

Kihomi turned to look into the Senshi's violet eyes. She leaned over and kissed her.

"Thank you, you don't know how much that means." she said. As the episode ended, the two women left the apartment for Setsuna's house. The drive was spent largely in silence as the city passed them by. As they came up to her house, they both saw a few other vehicles parked outside in front of the lawn. Setsuna immediately recognized one of them as belonging to Usagi and allowed a groan to escape.

"Sets-chan?" Kihomi asked out of concern, "What's wrong?"

"I'm... afraid that word has reached some of my friends that I'm dating, and it looks like curiosity has brought them all over. I'm sorry Kiho-chan, they're all good people and very accepting, but if you don't want to meet any of them tonight I'll understand."

Kihomi felt a bit of nervousness at meeting strangers like this, but as she parked the car she turned to her girlfriend.

"Sets, for them to come out here like this means they obviously care a great deal for you. Of course I'll meet them."

------

"It's up!" the professor announced, his face beaming with pride, "And sooner than expected."

Beniko smiled, "Good. I'll go and get the others." she declared. As she walked by, Marika turned to watch the way the blonde's hips moved as she walked. She smiled; the woman was so beautiful, so open sexually, so talented magically...

And so utterly stupid.

She began to disrobe as the others began to filter over to her and walked into the circle.

------

"...And this, of course, is Usagi." Setsuna said, introducing the blond to her girlfriend, "Everyone, this is Saito Kihomi, my... my

girlfriend." she said nervously. Kihomi bowed to everyone, flashing her best smile as she did so. Almost immediately, she was set upon by Minako and Usagi.

"So how long have you been seeing Setsuna?"

"Where did you grow up?"

"Are you really Hotaru's teacher?"

"Are the two of you getting married?"

Rei and Makoto came up behind the two blonds and put their hands over their mouths.

"Let them sit down at least!" Rei yelled as she held her hand over Minako's mouth.

"Yeah Usagi, calm down." Makoto added. "She just got here, and you two..."

"We met three days ago," Kihomi interrupted, "I was born near the stadium where the Hiroshima Tigers play, yes, I really am Hotaru's teacher, although since Setsuna and I am dating now she'll probably have to be moved to another class, and it's too soon to tell." she said all in one breath.

Everyone in the room was now looking at Kihomi. Then, Haruka started to chuckle. Michiru and Ami joined in, and soon everyone was sharing a good laugh.

The laughter was cut short, however, for Rei and Michiru. Michiru looked over to Rei, who nodded; she'd felt it too. Haruka, still laughing, looked over to see a very serious look in her wife's eyes and immediately guessed at what was wrong.

Setsuna, standing behind Kihomi with her arm draped over her shoulder, picked up on the subtle body language as well. She wasn't sure what do, since Kihomi was still here. She was about to suggest that they go walk outside for a bit while the others talked, when she felt it.

"Sets-chan?" Kihomi asked as she turned to her girlfriend, "What's wrong? I just felt you shiver."

"I... It's nothing, I... I need to go upstairs for a few minutes, hon. I'll be right down, though. I promise."

Kihomi looked questioningly at her, "Okay." she said, "I'll wait for you."

Setsuna felt a second tremor go through her. She turned and ran up the stairs. Kihomi turned to see the once smiling faces suddenly looking pensive and tense. Michiru, Rei and Haruka were standing together discussing something important in low tones as Ami, Hotaru and Minako looked on worriedly. The teacher began to feel self-conscious and out of place, when Usagi and Makoto both came over.

"I'm sorry if I barraged you with questions when you first came in." Usagi said, "Why don't we go in the kitchen and talk for a bit until Setsuna comes back." she suggested, hoping to get Setsuna's date out of the room so the others could talk more freely.

Makoto smiled at the blonde's suggestion, "Usagi's right." she said, "I can fix us some coffee and... Kihomi-san? Are you okay."

"No..." the teacher whimpered, "Not here..."

"Kihomi!" Usagi yelled as the woman clutched the sides of her head in pain. Rei and the others looked over as the blond and Makoto held the other woman trying to calm her, even as the pain continued to intensify.

"Hasten the Manifestation."

It was happening again. The voices.

"Join us."

"Join us."

Except this time, someone else was able to hear them too.

"Usagi, Makoto, get back!" Rei shouted, "Hotaru, close the blinds." she ordered.

"Get back?" Usagi asked, "Rei, what..."

"You dare not refuse, you dare not refuse..."

"She's being attacked!" the Shinto priestess yelled over Kihomi's screams as she pulled an ofuda from her purse.

"What are you doing?" Haruka asked, caught up in the anxiety of the moment.

"Exorcism." the young priestess answered. "Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu zai zen! Akuryou taisan!" she shouted as she threw the charm at the woman. She watched with the others as it burst and crackled into flames before it could reach her. "Kami-sama!" she yelled as blood began to once again flow in small rivulets from Kihomi's nose and ears, and a single bloody tear fell down the teacher's cheek as the blood vessels of her left eye ruptured. "Give her strength, Kami-sama," she said as she pulled out a second ofuda for her, "give..."

The priestess was cut off as an invisible force picked her up and slammed her against the living room wall, knocking over a table lamp in the process. As the teacher's eyes rolled up into the back of her head, she began to slowly rise up off the ground.

"Join us."

"You dare not refuse."

"Join us."

Haruka, who had seen enough, pulled her henshin wand out.

"Uranus planet power, make up!"

The other Senshi in the room quickly followed suit, causing the room to become ablaze in lights for a brief period. Meanwhile, a small dot of light began to glow in front of Kihomi, growing in size as it got closer. A symbol, looking like two arrows with points upwards crossed against two circles, a smaller one within a larger one, appeared on her forehead as a henshin wand appeared in the ball of light.

"No way!" Jupiter gasped.

"Her?" Neptune asked, stunned, "It was her all this time?"

"No." Mars answered Neptune, still rubbing her shoulder where she'd landed, "Usagi was right all the time; she's not behind any of this. She's been just as much a victim in all this as you and I have. Someone's trying to control her."

The woman levitating above the ground was no longer screaming as the wand, with a dull ochre orb at the end of it, continued to come closer. As it at last touched her chest, she was enveloped in a golden yellow light, and her street clothes were replaced by a fuku with a golden skirt, a light green bow on her chest and back, and white boots that rose to just above the knees.

As everyone stood watching, Kihomi suddenly felt weightless, and her pain was no more. She looked in front of her and saw the Sailor Senshi she knew from the TV news and papers. She also saw one that she'd never seen before, wearing a gold skirt and floating in the air. As she watched, she felt herself being lifted upward, even as one of the Senshi, a woman with long black hair wearing a red skirt, looked up at her in alarm.

"**They're taking her away!**" she thought she heard her say, but already she sounded so far away as Kihomi, now lighter than air, found herself floating above the house as she left her body behind.

------

"Saito-sensei!" Saturn called out, "Saito-sensei!"

"Kihomi, hold on." Sailor Moon whispered. The Senshi floating above the ground before them was giving no indications of even being alive, let alone any capability of hearing or comprehending the blond.

"They're taking her away!" Mars yelled as Kihomi stopped breathing all together.

"What are you talking about?" Neptune asked, "Whose taking her away?"

Mars gave the aqua-haired beauty a fiery look, "Whoever the bastard is behind all this." she answered, "They're stealing her soul. We have to join together and we have to do it now if we're going to save her."

------

Tokyo spread out underneath Kihomi as she continued to fly over the landscape. The country was flying by quickly, and she could see the seaports before her. She began to slow down as she approached a large dilapidated building, falling slowly toward its roof as she did so.

She passed through the roof, and entered a scene out of a horror film. There was a large machine within a drawn circle, a second circle with men and women cutting themselves with knives as two women had sex on the floor in front of them, and a man holding a sword that she recognized from her hallucinations last night who seemed to be in control of all that was happening.

There was also a triangle, drawn in chalk, with various occult symbols written around it. She didn't understand anything of the nightmare she was viewing, but she did know one thing; she was being drawn inexplicably toward the triangle. Almost instinctually, she knew she had to stay away from it.

------

The eight Senshi circled around Kihomi, joining hands as they all focused on the teacher and the dire consequences she now found herself in. As they gave their energy willingly to save her, the room began to glow.

------

Just as Kihomi was about to enter the triangle, she stopped. One of the two women having sex on the floor, a redhead, looked straight at her as she floated just outside the barrier, and let out an animalistic roar of rage. The teacher had just enough time to note the woman's forked tongue before she felt herself being pulled back up through the roof and over the Tokyo skyline. Traveling faster this time, she saw Setsuna's house rushing toward her a split second before she saw the strange woman floating above the living room floor surrounded by the Sailor Senshi.

------

Kihomi's entire body suddenly jerked, then fell to the floor with a thud. Ami rushed over and put her fingers to the young woman's neck in order to confirm she was alive. As the others surrounded the unconscious woman, Haruka perceived a noise coming from upstairs. Setsuna was back.

This wasn't going to be pretty.

-To Be Continued-


	8. Chapter 8

-Minerva-

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters other than the original ones I created for this story.

------

-8-

_Those who are courageous out of daring are killed. Those who are _

_courageous out of love survive._

_The first is harmful, the second beneficial_

The Tao Te Ching, chapter 73

------

Kihomi slowly opened her eyes to find herself lying on a cushioned futon in a large room near what looked like a fire pit. She slowly sat up and began to look around. She wasn't sure where she was, but she was fairly certain she wasn't in Setsuna's house anymore. As her eyes wandered, she saw two cats staring intently at her. One was white, while the other was black, and both sported what looked like crescent-shaped moon designs on their foreheads. The black cat seemed to nudge the white one, who quickly went scurrying off.

A few of Kihomi's bangs were hanging down over her eyes, and she went to brush them away. That was when she noticed the white glove on her arm. Looking over, she saw a second glove on her other arm. In fact, she now realized she was dressed up in a fuku just like the one she'd imagined seeing last night during her hallucinations back at the house with Setsuna's friends.

Last night. Her face turned red when she remembered suffering her attack in front of everyone like that. With a sigh she hoped that, even if she had managed to totally ostracize the others by what happened, that Setsuna would still be there for her. After all, she had promised to be there, hadn't she?

But then again, at the moment she had more pressing concerns. Such as; exactly where in the hell was she? And why was she wearing an outfit she saw yesterday in a hallucination? As she slowly managed to get to her feet, she heard footsteps behind her.

"Hello." she said as she straightened up, "Perhaps you could tell me where I am and why I'm dressed like..." she trailed off as she turned and saw the white cat run back into the room followed by the heroes known as the Sailor Senshi. Kihomi was now at a loss; she'd seen news footage of the women in front of her in action (who hadn't?), and she could remember the earliest reported appearances of Sailor V, therefore knew who they were. What she didn't know however was why they were here, or why she was dressed like one of them. There were two possibilities open before her, neither of which was very appealing. The first was that she had gone completely insane and was no longer able to differentiate between fantasy and reality.

The second was that all this was really happening.

One of the Senshi, the one wearing a red skirt with long black hair Kihomi remembered from yesterday saying something about being taken away, stepped forward in front of the others.

"Saito Kihomi-sama," she began, "My name is Sailor Mars. And before we go any further, this is real."

Kihomi's eyes widened; how did this woman know she was wondering about that?

"In fact, it's _all _been real." The Senshi continued, "You're the victim of an unknown enemy, one who's been attacking you in an effort to manipulate and control you against your will."

Kihomi looked stunned. She scanned the faces of the other Sailor Senshi, seeing concerned and pained expressions on their countenances.

"You... You mean like some sort of... psychic _rape_?" the teacher asked, trying to understand what she was hearing.

Sailor Mars sadly lowered her eyes as she nodded her head. "I'm afraid so."

The teacher unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself as she began to feel sick and violated.

"That's why we're here," Mars continued, "To help you."

Kihomi shook her head, "This doesn't make any sense. Why me? If someone were going to try to take over another person, why wouldn't they go after a member of parliament or a billionaire or someone like that? Why me? Look, I'm just a history teacher. I've no money, both of my parents are dead, and things were just starting to look up for me when all this happened. Why would anybody want to do this to me?"

Sailor Mars took a deep breath, "Because... You're a Senshi. You're one of us."

Kihomi was speechless. She looked at Mars, then at the other Senshi behind her, and finally down at the fuku she was wearing. Looking back up, she saw a Senshi with long blond hair pulled up into two ponytails on either side of her head step forward.

"Kihomi-sama," the young woman began, "My name's Sailor Moon. We know this is difficult, but... But we believe that in a past life you were the princess of a planet called Minerva. Unfortunately, there's only one way to be sure. We... We want your permission to open your memories."

Kihomi froze, "You mean, you want to get into my head too?" she asked, her voice betraying her fear.

Another Senshi now stepped forward, one holding a staff with a garnet orb set in the top of it.

"Kiho-cha... Kihomi-sama," the woman began, quickly correcting herself, "I'm Sailor Pluto. We're not like those... those monsters who are trying to hurt you. We... **I**, I give you my word; no harm will come to you by what we wish to do."

The teacher was frightened; she didn't know any of these women, and had yet to be told where she was. But there was something about Pluto's voice, and the look in her eyes, that was comforting in a strange way. Besides, at this point she was as anxious to know exactly what was going on as everyone else.

"What... do I have to do?" she asked, her voice just above a whisper. "It's not going to hurt, is it?"

Sailors Mars and Pluto stepped forward. Mars could still remember the time Pluto used her powers to show her fellow Inners the dreams of the Silence threatening the world when they were at the planetarium a few years ago. Today, the two of them would be working together to revive the young teacher's memories of her past life and share them with the others.

"Close your eyes," the Senshi of fire said as the others began to walk over as well, "And try to empty your mind.

Kihomi swallowed hard and did as she was instructed. She felt Sailors Pluto and Mars lay their hands on her head, and saw a bright white light.

---

_She and the other Senshi in the room now saw the Kingdom of Minerva. Queen Serenity's kingdom on the moon and the future Crystal Tokyo could scarcely be more beautiful than the paradise they now saw before them. The centuries passed. The ruler, a wise and gracious princess, fell in love and married, only to watch her wife slowly grow old and die while she stayed young. She fell in love again, and again her wife died before her eyes. _

_Kihomi and the Senshi did more than watch, though; they felt it. The passing of time, the rise of the Minervian culture, the love the princess and her subjects shared for one another, and the heartbreak every time one of her wives died._

_They then saw the ship from Neptune arrive, and watched and felt the joy the princess felt upon finding out there were others. They also experienced her excitement at learning all about her fellow rulers, and observed her become infatuated with a picture of one of the other princesses. Then, they saw the embassy vessel sabotaged, the war ships, her failure to her people and the betrayal of chancellor Maiya who'd given herself over to the demon Babylon. Finally they saw and felt the heartbreak and physical pain as Minerva gave her life for a kingdom she would never see, and to save her sisters she would never meet, from the thing that had destroyed her own world._

---

The vision over, Kihomi sank to her knees as she buried her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. Waves of sorrow, loss and regret washed over her, crushing her under the devastating weight of a sadness she'd never felt before. This was no dream she'd just seen, no hallucination. It was her life, a life that had been horribly taken away from her. She'd never met her sisters and she had failed her subjects. She'd died alone, unmourned and unloved.

Then, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. A second hand followed, then a third. Arms, strong yet gentle, encircled her as she soon felt herself surrounded by the Senshi, her sisters, reaching out to her. Even the two cats she'd witnessed earlier seemed to rub up against her in an attempt to console her. She felt someone's shoulder next to her face and buried her head in it as the tears continued to come. The woman whose shoulder she was crying into began to stroke her hair as she brought her mouth up to her ear.

"You found us." she whispered in a voice choked with emotion, "Welcome home."

Kihomi opened her eyes with a start. That voice. It sounded like... Setsuna?

------

She lay panting for air as sweat clung to her body. Marika was insatiable, often leaving the blond not just worn out, but sore after their sessions. She looked over to the clock on the wall as the redhead got off her and walked over to her clothes. It was nine in the morning. Turning back to her partner, Marika already had her red thong panties back on and was strapping her bra on as she slowly tried to push herself back up into a sitting position.

"M... Marika..." she managed to get out. The woman zipped up her fly and buttoned her tight fitting jeans before turning to look at her.

"It's nine." she said, "Can you really find us a sacrifice in the time needed?"

The redhead just looked at Beniko impassively for a few seconds before turning back away again to put a black tee-shirt on. Beniko, her muscles aching from the workout her lover had just put her through, moved over to the edge of the bed as Marika was putting her socks on. The blond swept her sweaty hair back with her hand as the other woman began lacing up a pair of red sneakers.

"Marika." Beniko said. The redhead turned to look back at her as she grabbed her leather jacket.

"Be careful." the blond said. Marika raised an eyebrow at that, then turned away and walked out the door. She walked past the machine of Professor Miyagawa and exited the building. Once outside, she inhaled deeply of the sea air, smiling as she did so. She heard the birds flying overhead and the cars in the distance. She stretched her arms out as a sudden wind picked up, swirling around her, embracing her. Closing her eyes, her smile widened as her feet left the pavement.

------

The Hikawa Jinga Shrine on Sendai Hill was beautiful this time of year, as the birds sang among the trees and the sun shone down on the structure, caressing it in its light and warmth. The woman sitting on the steps to the shrine was oblivious to the beauty around her, though. She'd come out here to think.

"A bit overwhelming, isn't it?" a female voice asked.

Kihomi turned to the speaker and slowly nodded her head, "Yes, it is," she admitted.

"Hmmm..." the speaker said as she nodded her head, "One day you're a teacher, and the next you find out you're Sailor Minerva, charged with protecting the future ruler of Crystal Tokyo and saving the earth from youma, daemons and other assorted villains. Under the best of circumstances, it's difficult to take."

Kihomi nodded her head, "That's putting it mildly... Luna, is it?" she asked. The cat nodded her head as the teacher continued, "All these new memories, and all this new information I'm being asked to absorb... It's almost too fantastical to believe. I mean, between Beryl, Pharaoh 90 and Galaxia, how many times have all of you died by now?"

A low, husky laugh alerted the two that they had company. Luna put her paw on the teacher's leg before heading back into the temple. In her place Mizuno Ami and Tenoh Haruka sat down on either side of Kihomi.

"How are you handling all this?" the racecar driver asked. The teacher shrugged her shoulders.

"About as well as can be expected, I suppose." Kihomi answered, quickly adding, "Thanks for showing me how to transform back, by the way."

Haruka waved away the thanks as Ami put her hand on Kihomi's shoulder and spoke.

"I can still remember when I learned I was a Senshi. I was fourteen." she began, "And I was going to Crystal Cram School. Even then, I felt I wanted to be a doctor, just like my mom. I remember... I remember Usagi bursting into my class disguised as a doctor. She..." Ami began to giggle a bit at the memory, "She thought I was a youma."

Kihomi smiled at that, "What?" she asked incredulously. Haruka smiled as she shook her head.

"That's our princess." the blond said, "She's got a heart of gold, but she isn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer."

Kihomi and Ami laughed a bit at the remark, "Well now, in Usagi's defense it was Luna who told her I was a youma." Ami said, taking up her story where she left off, "Anyways, a real youma attacked, and Luna recognized me as Sailor Mercury. She tossed me a henshin wand and told me to transform. Since I had an axe-wielding monster coming at me at the time, I wasn't about to argue. I remember being scared out of my wits at the time. I mean, I had no idea what I was doing."

The other two women waited until Ami was done. Haruka took a deep breath and began her tale.

"My story is a tad more complicated. The short version is that Michi-chan learned she was a Senshi first, and then came looking for me. I didn't want any part of it. Then, I saw her get hurt during a fight with a youma, and... And I saw this beautiful girl, cut up and bruised in front of me, and I looked over and saw the henshin wand that was meant for me, and..." Haruka suddenly closed her eyes as she relived the event mentally. "I was given a choice. Unfortunately, you were never offered a choice. This was all just forced upon you in the worst way imaginable. Believe me, no one sympathizes more than I do. There are times when... when I sometimes wonder if I made the right decision in picking up that wand. Of course, all it takes is one look at my family; at Michi-chan, my little firefly and Setsuna, and my friends," she said, nodding her head toward Ami, "And I realize I'm not alone." she then turned to face the teacher, "Kihomi, _you're_ not alone either. All of us, we're all here for you."

Ami nodded, "Ruka's right. All of us, we're all here to help you through this."

Kihomi looked at the two young women on either side of her and smiled. "Thank you." she said, "Something tells me I'm going to need all the help I can get."

At that moment a sound from behind them alerted the trio to the fact that they had company. Turning around, Haruka and Ami saw Setsuna walking over.

"Well that's our cue to leave, Ami-chan." the blond said. As she and Ami got up, Haruka patted Kihomi on the back. The two of them left to give Setsuna and the teacher some privacy. Once out of earshot, Haruka leaned over to Ami.

"I think Mako-chan's out in the garden behind the shrine if you wanted to see her." Haruka said in a low tone.

Ami gave the racecar driver a startled look. "Wha... What do you mean?"

Haruka just gave the med student a smirk, "Come on, Ami-chan; this is **me** you're talking to. You didn't think I was going to pick up on what's going on between you and Mako-chan?"

Ami was speechless. Haruka just chuckled a bit.

"Relax, I'm not about to tell anyone else. What the two of you do is between the two of you. For what it's worth though, the two of you really do look good together."

Ami looked at the blond for a few seconds longer before smiling. "Thanks." she said. The two Senshi separated, and Ami headed for the garden.

---

Setsuna sat next to Kihomi, unsure what to say. Her mind kept racing back to the memories she and Rei had awakened, and the pain and loneliness Minerva felt when she gave her life for the others. She then thought of last night, after the two of them had declared their love for one another and she had introduced the teacher to the others. She could still remember coming down the stairs, seeing everyone transformed into the Sailor Senshi, and Ami holding the limp body of her girlfriend.

She wanted to hurt them. Whoever they were, wherever they were hiding. They'd attacked her family, her friends, and the only woman she'd ever loved. She swallowed hard as she turned to her girlfriend.

"Kiho-chan." she said in a low tone. Before she could get out anything more, the teacher leaned over to rest her head on the Time Senshi's shoulder.

"Hold me." Kihomi whispered. "Please, just... just hold me."

Setsuna put her left arm around the teacher, stroking her cheek with her right hand as she kissed her forehead. Kihomi put her own arms around Setsuna's waist as she closed her eyes and felt the arms of the woman she loved around her.

---Afternoon---

Marika was not happy.

She'd been searching for hours with no luck. The only virgins she'd found so far were either far too young for the ritual to be fully effective or had way too many others around to snatch undetected. She didn't have much longer before the ritual, either. She now found herself outside Mugen Gaken Junior High, watching as the students left at the end of the school day.

Then she smelled it; the foul, nauseating stench of purity. It was coming from a girl who was saying goodbye to a group of her school friends. It wasn't just purity though; the very air around the child reeked of charity and kindness. It was enough to make Marika sick.

The child was leaving school, carrying her schoolbag on her back. Following from a distance, the redhead watched the girl walk down the sidewalk, and quickly figured out where she was headed. She took off to arrive there first, to wait for her Red Riding Hood to arrive as she prepared for her role as the wolf hiding behind the tree.

------

Artemis' tongue hung out a bit as he smiled on Kihomi's lap, purring softly as the teacher continued to scratch him under his chin and behind his right ear. Next to Kihomi, Setsuna sat gently rubbing her hand across her back. The others were sitting around playing checkers, sipping tea, and otherwise passing time until their last straggler came back.

Minako walked over to the two women and smiled.

"The two of you look wonderful together." the Senshi of Love said, adding, "I'm so very happy for both of you to find each other after all this time. I guess it's true; true love keeps the doctor away."

Kihomi tilted her head at that. Wasn't it supposed to be, "True love conquers all," not "keeps the doctor away?"

Setsuna just smiled back at the blond, "Thank you, Mina-chan. We..." she was cut off by the sounds of a disturbance outside. Rei stood up in alarm as suddenly every door in the temple slammed shut, and a loud noise alerted the Senshi that several trees had fallen over and were blocking all the exits. Kihomi watched as the priestess and her fellow Senshi grabbed their henshin wands, and quickly went to grab her own. Meanwhile, what sounded like a mini tornado was blowing through the temple grounds.

------

Hotaru was slowly making her way to the shrine after school. After the events of last night, her parents wanted to keep her away when Kihomi awoke just in case anything disturbing like that happened again. She loved them dearly, but sometimes they had a tendency to be overprotective, especially her Haruka-papa. She made them promise to contact her if Sailor Saturn was needed, and agreed to go to classes.

The day was long, and it felt like her classes would never end. She couldn't bring herself to focus on any of the classes, and lucked out when none of the teachers called on her. As she passed by the Shishi (lion-dog statues often left to stand guard at the entranceways of Shinto shrines) and walked under the torii gate, she suddenly felt a chill go down her spine. She looked around to see if maybe it was the wind, but the wind she'd heard from a distance blowing around inside the temple grounds had gone away, and not even the leaves in the trees were rustling.

The trees.

The shimenawa (specially plaited rope used to ward off evil spirits) and the gohei (strips of white paper used for much the same purpose) had all been removed from the trees surrounding the shrine. The ropes and paper were scattered around haphazardly throughout the grounds, as if some vandals had decided it would be fun to desecrate the shrine. Even the small wooden ema plaques with shrine attendees wishes written on them had been removed from the tree branches, flung around the shrine property as if a tornado had gone through.

Hotaru had a sinking feeling; something was definitely wrong. She needed to get inside the shrine and find out what was going on. As she started to move closer to the building, she noticed that several trees had not simply been knocked over, but had been pulled over by something and left in front of the entrances to the building.

It was then she heard movement behind her. She turned around, but saw nobody. Nervously, she took her schoolbag off her back and brought it around, intending to pull her henshin wand out.

The judo chop to the back of her neck stopped her.

As she fell to the ground unconscious at Marika's feet, the redhead looked down at the fifteen year old, licking her lips as she did so. The child was a virgin; it'd been so long since she'd deflowered one. With a pained sigh, she realized now was not the time. The child was needed for the sacrifice.

Marika smiled as she pulled the duck tape out of her leather jacket.

------

Michiru's eyes opened wide as she suddenly let out a small gasp. Haruka turned to see the wild, terrified look in her wife's eyes.

"Michi-chan?" Haruka asked, "What..."

The Senshi of the Seas didn't need her mirror this time. She just knew.

"Hotaru!" she screamed as she ran toward the nearest wall. "Neptune Planet Power, Make Up!" The others ran after her, likewise transforming. Kihomi, still unsure of her powers, brought up the rear.

"Deep Submerge!" she cried. The side of the temple exploded outward from the force of Neptune's attack. As she got outside, she saw a woman with short red hair in a black leather jacket crouched over her daughter. The young girl's mouth was taped shut, and her hands and feet were likewise bound.

The woman looked up from her daughter to Neptune and the others who'd now joined her, and growled in rage at them. How in the hell had the Sailor Senshi known she'd be here?

Neptune's face turned red with anger as she looked at the thing trying to take her daughter, "Deep Sub..." she stopped when the redhead grabbed her daughter and pulled her up, using Hotaru's body as a shield. As Pluto gasped in horror, the woman held Hotaru tight as they both began to float up into the air. Uranus, her fists clenched and her face contorted with rage, looked up at them.

"You fucking coward!" she screamed, "Put her down and fight!"

Marika just smiled at the fear and anguish she was causing the Senshi gathered below her. The redhead looked over to her captive and licked the side of the child's face with her forked tongue. She then turned back to see the short haired blond shaking with impotent rage, unable to help the child, and the angry, scared and concerned faces of the others. As she scanned the faces of the Senshi, she saw... **her**!

No! She'd been awakened, and her fellow Senshi had reached her first! She grabbed the unconscious girl's hair and yanked her head to the side as fire shot forth from her mouth towards the women on the ground. The new one however, running in front of the others, held her wand up as she met the thing's eyes.

"Great Shield!" she yelled. The force field extended from the bronze-colored shield now on her left arm to surround her fellow Senshi, protecting them from her attack.

Marika let out a roar of anger. They hadn't just found her first; they'd restored her memory! All was lost now. She might as well just let the child go to dash her brains out against the ground, or...

But wait, what was this? The redhead sniffed the air around the nine Senshi gathered in front of her.

"Let the girl go!" Sailor Moon yelled as Kihomi released the force field.

Marika then sniffed Hotaru. The girl slumped in her arms had a similar smelling aura to that of the other Senshi. She was one of them!

The redhead looked straight at Kihomi as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Minerva." she rasped in a low, guttural voice, "It's been awhile."

Kihomi looked angrily upward at the speaker, "Let her go, you freak!" she yelled, adding, "You and I have never met before."

Marika laughed, "Oh, but we have, Minerva. Of course, I had a different form the last time we met."

Kihomi's eyed widened in shock as she looked at the thing floating in front of her and the others. "Babylon." she gasped, feeling a frenzy of rage welling up inside of her.

It had taken the demon centuries to find her way back to the solar system from deep space; finally reaching this tiny rock circling around it's below average sized star. Even longer to manipulate the Kabalists, ceremonial magicians and Satanists with her lies. Her patience was finally paid off when she found the Englishman Aleister Crowley and the American Jack Parsons. Crowley would be her prophet, while Parsons would take the next, and final, step towards her goal. She had taken over the body of a Minervian before, but was limited by the fact that the owner of the host body was constantly fighting her control. What she needed was her _own_ body, in the truest sense of the word. And, in a magical working in 1946, the fool Parsons gave her what she wanted.

It had taken her centuries.

The look of shock and anger on Minerva's face made it all worth it.

Babylon began to laugh.

"Let my daughter go, you bitch!" Pluto screamed.

Sailor Venus slowly began to maneuver herself away from the others as the demon laughed at the Time Senshi.

"Daughter, eh?" she sneered, "Well congratulations 'mom,' you did such a terrific job raising your daughter that she fell right into my hands." she said, laughing cruelly at the effect her words had on Pluto. She then began to rise higher into the air.

"Babylon, wait!" Minerva yelled as Venus continued to move over to the side of the demon. "It's me you want, isn't it? That's what this has all been about, hasn't it? Here I am. Let her go."

Babylon stopped to look down at her, and smirked.

"I have _her_ now." she said, "I no longer need you to..."

"Venus Love-Me Chain!"

With a jolt, the demon felt something grab onto her. She looked down at the blond in the orange skirt holding onto the other end of a chain of hearts wrapped around her ankle.

"You're not going anywhere!" Sailor Venus yelled. The demon looked at here for a second or two before reaching into her jacket with her right hand while holding Hotaru by the waist with the other.

She proceeded to pull out a switchblade.

"Release me now." the redhead ordered, "Or I'll give her back to you in pieces."

Sailor Venus felt her heart sank. If she let them go, she knew Hotaru was as good as dead. And one look at the eyes of the monster holding her told her that the demon wasn't bluffing about killing the child here and now.

Reluctantly she released the demon, watching with the others as Babylon and Hotaru rapidly flew away.

-To be continued-


	9. Chapter 9

-Minerva-

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters other than the original ones I created for this story.

-9-

_And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints..._

Book of Revelations, 17:4-6

--

Neptune buried her face in her hands as she began to cry. Uranus quickly hugged her, looking skyward where the demon and her daughter had disappeared from sight.

"We have to get Mamo-chan" Sailor Moon declared, "We need Tuxedo..."

"There's no time!" Mars answered, "We need to move now!"

"She can't be all that tough," Venus thought out loud, "I mean, Minerva was able to..."

"Minerva had to blow up a star cruiser to defeat her last time, remember?" Mercury broke in, "And star cruisers aren't exactly as common to come by as sci-fi films and anime would have you believe. Even with Usagi's Eternal Sailor Moon transformation, it might not be enough."

"What if..." Jupiter began, "What if we were to try to combine the joint attacks, say Usagi's Moon Eternal Make-up transformation with the Sailor Planet Attack? Or the Sailor Planet Meditation?"

Uranus, still holding Neptune, shook her head, "Do you honestly think that... that monster is going to just stand there and wait for you to power up a Sailor Planet Attack?" she asked, her voice harsher than she'd intended it to be.

"What is the Sailor Planet Meditation?" Minerva whispered to Mars.

"A combined attack." She whispered back, "We each call out our planet's name, then kneel while joining hands."

Sailor Moon hung her head, "She's right." The princess said sorrowfully, "Remember in the fight with Kaolinite, Mamo-chan had to keep him occupied while the attack was charged up."

"We'd need at least five minutes." Mars admitted, "And that's five minutes we won't have." Pluto, listening to the conversation, felt her heart sink.

"Besides," the Time Senshi began, "We... don't even know... where she... took..." she couldn't get any more out before she too began to cry.

Kihomi went to her love and was about to try to console her, when she thought of something. "Rei-san," she began as her eyes widened, "You said that everything I'd seen and experienced, it had all been real, right?"

The priestess gave her a look, "Yes, why?"

The Senshi of War and Wisdom's face lit up a bit, "Then I think I know where to look for Hotaru."

--

"Mmmm... Verrry nice..." one of the men in the group said as he looked down at the unconscious young girl bound in duct tape who was lying on the stone altar in the circle. He started to reach a hand out toward her chest, "A bit underdeveloped, but..."

Marika angrily swatted his hand away, growling as she did so. Beniko came up behind her.

"Fool!" the blond yelled, "The child was picked because of her purity, and here you are trying to rob her of it!"

Just then, Professor Miyagawa came over. "Ladies, I beg you to reconsider." he began, "It's way too soon to use the machine again for..."

"No! Now!" Beniko shouted as the others began to strip, "Even if all you have is enough juice for one minute, it has to be now!"

--

_She could see the triangle again, smell the incense and candles, see the man in the lab coat operating the machine as the grotesque spectacle in the circle continued. Finally, just as before, she felt herself stop, and saw the redheaded demon roar angrily at her as she flew back, entering her own body again with a jolt._

She opened her eyes as Pluto and Mars removed their gloved hands from her forehead. Uranus face had turned white, as Sailor Moon and Mercury both looked sick. Neptune looked like she was in shock.

"Kami-sama..." Mars gasped, "What kind of enemies are we facing?"

"That machine!" Pluto said, "That thing was causing the time distortions, sending me off while they've been accessing the time gate."

Sailor Moon took a deep breath to calm herself, "Everyone, join hands." she orders, "We have to do a Sailor Teleport."

--

"O ye Guardians of the West Gate, Lords of the Waters, we summon ye to protect this circle." the High Priest called out, thus sealing the circle. As the magus put the sword down and took up his dagger, the professor crossed his fingers and hoped his machine didn't blow up under the strain. The group began to whip themselves as Marika lowered herself on top of Beniko next to the altar.

"We command you, open!" the High Priest shouted a short time later as the circle started to glow and a blue and purple mist began to swirl around the participants, "We command you dimensional gates, open! We command you, gates of time, open!" he cried as he held the knife above the still form of the sacrifice below him, "We..."

"**Stop!**"

All turned their attention to the speaker. Most of those present had long ago simply assumed the redhead was a mute, and were thus quite surprised to find her rising off her blond partner to yell for the ritual to stop.

"Wha... What do you think you're doing?" the magus demanded angrily. "You can't just..."

"Silence!" Marika ordered. Turning to look at her confused partner on the floor, the redhead smiled, "Koibito (beloved), do you remember that little contract we made?"

Beniko was confused, "Wha... Well yes, but..."

"The contract has been fulfilled." Marika declared. Beniko nervously got up to her feet.

"What are you talking about?" she asked as the others in the circle looked around confused, "The contract was for the tenth Senshi to be trapped within the triangle and..." she was cut off by Marika's laugh.

"Reread the contract." she said, "You asked for a Senshi to be trapped within a magical container. She," the redhead said, pointing at the young girl still unconscious on the stone slab, "Is a virgin sacrifice. She is also a **Senshi**."

Marika's eyes widened in terror, "B... But it was always understood..."

"You may have understood, dear. Unfortunately, all that matters is the writing of the contract. She is a Senshi, and she is being held captive in a magical container, this circle to be exact."

Beniko slowly started to take a step back, "But... But I loved you. In order for me to give you my soul, I'd have to..."

Marika frowned at the blond. Turning around, she grabbed the sword from the altar to the side of the stone sacrificial table and, with a quick swing, decapitated the High Priest. She then took the ritual dagger from his hand as he fell and flung it into Beniko's chest. As the blond sank to her knees, the ten other men and women in the circle tried to escape, but found that they couldn't escape the confines of the circle.

Professor Miyagawa watched in horror from inside his circle drawn around the machine as the slaughter continued on for another minute and a half. The thing, now drenched with the blood of the others, looked down at the young Senshi. Energy released from the multiple deaths joined that of what was already raised, surrounding the demon with dark power. Once she killed the Senshi, the ten of them would never be able to unite against her.

Before she could act out her plan, however, a glowing light suddenly lit up the warehouse. Seconds later, the Sailor Senshi were within the building. Sailor Pluto immediately directed her attention to the professor's machine as the others went after the circle.

"Dead Scream!" the Time Senshi called out. Professor Miyagawa ran away, scared out of his wits as his machine blew up. Not seeing where he was going, he found himself bumping into something. Looking up, he saw a woman with green wavy hair staring at him angrily.

Miyagawa was terrified out of his wits, "I... I..."

"Deep Submerge!" the woman screamed. The professor was slammed against a nearby support pillar with tremendous force, falling to the ground unconscious. She then turned her attention to the horrific scene within the circle.

"Deep Submerge!"

"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"

"Mars Flame Sniper!"

Babylon began to laugh as each attack bounced harmlessly off the outer perimeter of the circle. She began to raise the sword above her head, unaware of the blond with the dagger in her chest who was slowly crawling toward the edge of the circle behind her.

"War Arrows!"

"World Shaking!"

"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"

The demon ignored the ineffective attacks as she looked down at the Senshi, "Die!" Babylon shouted, "Die, you filthy little..."

"Guardians of the North Gate..." a weak voice whispered. Babylon turned around to see Beniko holding up her hand to the candle in the northern quarter of the circle, "I... release... you..." she said, collapsing as her arm fell outside the now opened circle. Babylon looked on in angry shock as all around her the magical energy raised began to dissipate out into the surrounding air. The sudden loss left her feeling temporarily weak.

"War Arrows!"

A yellow ball of energy containing dozens upon dozens of electric plasma arrows collided into Babylon, encircling and piercing through her even as its momentum knocked the sword from her hand and slammed her forward into the far wall some eighty feet away. The demon shook her head as she slowly got up. Minerva turned to Sailor Moon with a frighteningly intense look in her steel grey eyes.

"You have five minutes." she declared, hoping her fear at what she was about to try to do didn't show in her voice. She then turned back to her old nemesis, "Great Shield!"

"No!" Pluto yelled out, realizing what her love intended to do, "Wait..."

But Minerva was by that time already moving. Babylon turned around just in time to have the wind knocked out of her as the Senshi crashed into her shield first with the force of a bullet train. The two collided through the brick wall as Babylon began to gather the dark force around her. Landing outside on the pier, derelicts and other bystanders ran for their life as the two began to fight.

--

"Kihomi!" Pluto shouted as Uranus ran to Hotaru, "Come back, you've never fought before as a ..."

"No!" Sailor Venus interrupted, "She's doing this for us, to give us the time necessary for our attack. No matter what happens, we have to concentrate on the attack."

Sailor Moon nodded grimly, adding, "We have to believe in her, Pluto."

Sailor Pluto nodded numbly as Uranus removed the last of the tape from Hotaru and carried the child over to the others who were forming a circle.

--

"You killed my people!" Sailor Minerva screamed as she used her shield to hit Babylon in the side of the face, knocking her into a stop sign hard enough to bend the street sign over, "You destroyed my kingdom! You took everything from me!" she yelled as went to swipe with her shield again. The demon, now enveloped in darkness, blocked the swing as she struck out with a fist of her own. The blow knocked Minerva into a parked car twenty feet away, denting the side and knocking the wind out of the Senshi.

"Been awhile since your last fight?" Babylon asked as she picked her up from behind. "Here, let me remind you how it's done!" she roared as she flung Minerva in the air with terrific force. The Senshi flew up and smashed into a billboard up on a commercial building, crashing through the wooden advertisement and dislocating her right shoulder in the process. As she landed hard on the building's roof, surrounded by wood splinters and chunks of plywood, she heard the demon land behind her, laughing.

Sailor Minerva was seeing spots dance before her eyes. She raised herself up to her knees just in time for Babylon to kick her hard in the face. As the Senshi fell over from the blow, the thing grabbed her by the back of the hair.

"Yes, I killed your people." she gloated, smashing Minerva's already injured face into the roof, "And I laughed as I heard their cries of fear and pain." she added, intending to once again slam the young woman's face into the hard surface. Unfortunately for her, however, Minerva had caught her breath by then. Bringing her shield up fast, she caught the demon off guard with an uppercut. As Babylon staggered back, Sailor Minerva rose to one knee as she brought both hands in front of her.

"War Arrows!" she cried. The impact knocked the demon off the roof, down to the busy streets below. The thing landed on a sports car, leaving a blood-red stain behind as it bounced off and crashed through the glass windows of a jewelry store. Minerva turned away, quickly going over to the side of the billboard. Taking a deep breath, she slammed her right shoulder into it, crying out in pain as her shoulder was knocked back into place. She then reached up, wincing in agony as she twisted her now broken nose back into place.

Finally, swirling her tongue around in her mouth, she spat out one of her front teeth, along with a good quantity of blood.

Turning back around, she leapt from the roof after Babylon, leaving the warehouse and the seaside piers behind her.

--

The Senshi closed their eyes as they tried to concentrate on raising up the power necessary for the combined attack. They'd hastily decided amongst themselves to use the Sailor Planet Meditation attack. They would have to wait until the last minute for the Moon Eternal Make-up transformation, since she wasn't going to be able to both hold it and give her power to the Sailor Planet Meditation attack for too long a time.

"Pluto." the Time Senshi called out, kneeling on the ground as she did so.

"Neptune." the Senshi of the Seas said, kneeling down and joining her hand with Pluto's. A white light began to surround the two as their hair slowly began to rise.

--

The owner of the jewelry store and her patrons stood gaping at the nude woman covered in blood who was slowly getting back up to her feet. At first worried for the woman's safety, the woman and a customer, a young man shopping for an engagement ring, began to run over to see if she was okay.

"Miss!" the middle aged woman asked from behind her spectacles, "My god, what happened? Who are you? What..." she stopped when the woman turned to her, eyes glowing red, and let out a roar as she showed off her forked tongue. As she began to float above the ground, the terrified owner and patrons ran for their life.

Behind her, a loud thud announced that Sailor Minerva had arrived. Turning around, she smirked at the bloodied and bruised Senshi standing in the street clutching a badly dented bronze shield. Concentrating, the darkness once again surrounded her as all the display boxes, tables, chairs, and cash registers began to shake. As Minerva took a step closer to the store, everything inside the jewelry store suddenly floated up a foot above the floor, and rocketed out at the Senshi.

The entrance to the Italian restaurant across the street exploded inward as jewelry displays, shards of glass, and tables flew in, along with a badly beaten and bruised Senshi of Wisdom and War. Babylon smiled grimly. The woman had her memories to draw from, but they were memories of a time long ago, and of a person she'd once been but was no longer. She obviously had no idea how to properly channel her powers, and was fighting purely by emotions.

Furthermore, since she wasn't a Senshi when the others received their more powerful forms and attacks, she only had two basic attacks that she could remember from her previous life to draw from.

"War Arrows!" she heard before everything exploded outward toward her again, smashing her once again into the jewelry store. As the demon slowly crawled out from underneath the wreckage covering her, Minerva stumbled out, a large gash on her forehead and a deep cut to her left hip were both bleeding profusely. As she thanked the fates that she'd landed in the restaurant during the between lunch and dinner lull in business, she looked back towards the direction of the sea. Hoping that Babylon took the bait and that she'd given her fellow Senshi the time needed, she leaped into the air, heading back towards the warehouse. The angry roar coming up from behind her told her the thing had indeed fallen for it and was chasing after her.

--

"Mars." The Senshi of Fire declared, kneeling down next to Venus and taking her hand. The circle was complete now, except for Sailor Saturn who was still unconscious, and Sailor Moon, who was still waiting for Babylon's return before she went through her Eternal transformation and joined the circle.

It was then that Hotaru slowly opened her eyes.

--

Blood was traveling in small rivulets down the Senshi's forehead, over her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, and her split lower lip. Ignoring the pain the wound to her hip was causing, the Senshi jumped from one roof to the next, Babylon always just a step behind. At last, just as the demon was about to grab her, Sailor Minerva turned in midair, grabbing onto the foul thing and twisting her body so that they both began a descent toward the roof of the warehouse.

Babylon grabbed Minerva's throat as she opened her mouth. Minerva saw something glowing in the back of the demon's throat and swept the thing's arms away with her shield, just as the creature was about to belch fire at her. She held her shield up just in time to block the attack, but the force from the blast sent her crashing through the skylight of the warehouse like a comet, careening down to the cement floor near her fellow Senshi. She hit the concrete hard, cracking the floor on impact and breaking her upper leg and hip bone on her right side.

Sweeping the broken glass off herself with shaking hands, she looked up and gritted her teeth as she saw the thing coming through the opening in the skylight toward her, hands extended as if ready for the kill. When she was less than thirty feet away from the floor however she stopped, seemingly unable to move.

Bringing her hand up to her face to brush away her hair that was now clumped together with blood, sweat and shards of glass, Sailor Minerva saw that the demon was obviously not expecting to be stopped in midair.

"Wha... What's happening?" Babylon screamed, "Who dares..."

"I am the Senshi of Destruction," an angry young voice declared, "My guardian deity is the planet of silence. The Senshi of Death and Rebirth... **Sailor Saturn!**"

As the young woman finished addressing Babylon, she looked to see the others gathered around her in what looked like a Sailor Planet Meditation attack. She took a step back to join the others, when she heard moaning coming from behind her, followed by a scraping sound. She turned around and gasped as she saw her teacher and fellow Senshi pull herself up to Mars, her legs dragging behind her as her shield slowly dematerialized. She ran to her and, as gingerly as possible, helped to pull her over.

"M... Minerva." Kihomi groaned out, placing her hand in Rei's. Unable to kneel, she simply lay on her belly with her hand in her fellow Senshi's. Saturn, now weeping at the site of Kihomi's condition, turned back to the demon still floating above them.

"Saturn." she said, kneeling down and grabbing hold of Kihomi's hand.

Sailor Moon, her eyes closed like the others, opened them as she looked up at the foul thing, "Moon Eternal Make-up!" she called out, transforming into her true form. "Moon!" she shouted, kneeling down and completing the circle. A huge energy beam rushed out from the circle towards Babylon. The last time the attack had been used, the target, Zirconia, had survived.

Of course, last time Sailor Moon wasn't in her Eternal form, and Saturn and Minerva hadn't been part of the attack.

The demon screamed in agony as she felt her body disintegrating in the blast. The beam ripped upward through the roof, carrying the fiend with it. Its body destroyed, the thing still felt itself being ripped apart as its consciousness was evaporated into nothingness, the demon ceasing to exist as what was left of its spirit was dispersed throughout the cosmos into space.

Sailor Moon fell over to her side, exhausted. Opening her eyes, she let out a cry. The others, alarmed, opened their eyes to see what the new menace was. They saw the princess crawling over to Minerva, who was being held in Mars' arms.

The Senshi's face was horribly disfigured by the combat she'd been in, and her right leg was lying at an unusual angle. Her fuku was torn and ripped, exposing multiple cuts and wounds. Minerva felt a hand softly stroke her bloodstained cheek, and she could hear someone crying. Opening her eyes, she could see Sailor Pluto bending over her. Her breathing became more and more shallow as she closed her eyes, and everything went black.

Minerva began to see a beautiful white light, radiating with warmth...

And then everything went purple.

Slowly opening her eyes, she saw Sailor Saturn, the Senshi of Death glowing purple as she smiled down at her. The Senshi of Death stood up, offering her left hand to her. Minerva took it, and found herself raised up to a standing position, amazed that her broken bones and other wounds seemed to have been healed. Behind Saturn, she saw the others looking on.

"I... I take it we won?" Sailor Minerva asked. She was answered by Pluto rushing over to her, pressing her lips to hers. Minerva closed her eyes and deepened the kiss as she put her arms around the Time Senshi, forgetting for the moment the presence of the others. After a few seconds, Pluto pulled away and gave her love a funny look.

"Kihomi-chan?" she asked, "What happened to your front teeth?"

-To Be Continued-


	10. Chapter 10

-Minerva-

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters other than the original ones I created for this story.

-10-

_My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts. My lover is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the gardens of En Gedi._

_How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves._

_How handsome you are, my lover! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant._

Song of Solomon, 1:13-16

--

A dental implant is a tiny titanium post inserted surgically into the jaw of someone who has lost a tooth. The implant acts as a substitute root for the artificial tooth that is then put into the mouth to replace the original. The procedure costs quite a bit of money, and unfortunately falls under the category of "reconstructive" or "plastic" surgery procedures on most dental and health insurance plans, meaning it isn't covered. And of course there's a waiting list for the procedure, even for someone who had one tooth knocked out by a foot to the face and another by the contents of a jewelry store being thrown at her.

Luckily, Saito Kihomi was now friends with a world famous racecar driver and a sought after concert violinist, both of whom insisted on paying for the procedure for her. Also, she was lucky in that she found an orthodontist who was a classical music lover. One autographed Kaioh Michiru violin CD later, she was in for the procedure. For the first six months, she'd be wearing small dentures of the teeth that had been knocked out while the post bonded with her upper jawbone. After that, the permanent replacement teeth would go in. She was rolling the tip of her tongue against the two tiny false teeth, noting how they felt almost like the original, as she got on the elevator.

It had been a long day back to school for Kihomi. Between the fight she'd had to break up during study hall, the staff meeting after school and wearing those damned uncomfortable heels all day she was exhausted. Then, of course, there was the incident...

--

_She'd seen the Sailor V lunchboxes and pictures growing up, of course. She could remember when the other Senshi began to appear, the newspapers and TV covering their exploits even as her classmates would argue over who was the most powerful or who was the cutest. Today, after her third class, she caught a group of girls gathered in a circle around something, talking. Walking over, she asked to see what was so interesting._

_There, on the cover of a magazine, was a grainy picture of her that had been taken by a spectator during her fight with Babylon a week and a half ago. She was lurching out of the restaurant, surrounded by plaster dust and broken glass, holding her shield as she looked across the street at the jewelry store. The headline read "New Senshi?"_

_"Wow." Kihomi said, "A new Senshi, huh?"_

_One of the girls spoke up, "Well, they don't know yet actually, Saito-sensei. Apparently the people there at the scene said they saw her fighting a naked girl, but the witnesses couldn't agree on what was happening."_

_Another chimed in, "Some said it was just a naked woman, while others said she was a youma dripping with blood and had a snake's tongue. Then some said she attacked the Senshi, crashing her through a restaurant, while others said the Senshi attacked first, sending her through a jewelry store window."_

_"Couldn't be much of a Sailor Senshi." a third girl spoke up, "I mean, she ended up running away from the thing, didn't she? And look at that picture; she looks all beat up. You never see Sailor Venus or Sailor Jupiter get beat up like that."_

_"Yeah, really." The first one chimed in, "What a wuss."_

_Kihomi's right eye began to twitch as she left the group and went back to her classroom for her next class._

--

Her elevator door opened, and she wearily stepped out. She just wanted to get inside her apartment, take a hot bath, and relax. Then, after a nice long soak, maybe get together with Setsuna, and have a romantic evening. She held onto her briefcase with one hand while turning the key in her lock with the other.

Opening the door, she was in for a surprise.

The apartment was romantically lit up with aromatic candles. They were everywhere; on the tables, the counters, and the floor. There was a path of rose petals leading to the bedroom. Kihomi began to reach in her jacket for her henshin wand, when she remembered that she'd given Setsuna a key to her apartment.

"Sets-chan?" the teacher called out as she took her shoes off. As if in response, romantic music started playing from the stereo in her bedroom. She smiled as she followed the trail of candles to her room, listening to the music and inhaling the sweet smelling aromas around her.

There, sitting on a bed covered in rose petals wearing very revealing black lingerie, sat Setsuna. Her body was bathed in the candlelight as she looked up at Kihomi and began to curl some of her long silken hair around her index finger.

"Hello." The Time Senshi purred, "Long day at the office?"

As Setsuna saw Kihomi unconsciously lick her lips and noted the look in her grey eyes, she made a mental note to thank Michiru for the suggestion of the candles and rose petals, and Haruka for the use of the Barry White CD.

"S... Sets-chan?" Kihomi asked as she began to walk over, "What's the occasion?"

The woman on her bed smiled invitingly, "Kiho, it's been two weeks today since we first met at the mall, remember?"

The teacher smiled back at that. If Setsuna wanted to celebrate a two-week anniversary, she wasn't about to argue. She allowed her eyes to wander over her body, noting the way the garters rested on her bare thighs, how beautiful and smooth her midriff was, and how her violet eyes shone in the candlelight. She came over to the bed and stroked her cheek, inhaling her scent, the scent of the petals, and the candles.

Setsuna closed her eyes as she leaned her head in to Kihomi's hand. She felt her beloved sit down on the bed next to her as she was pulled into a long, sensual kiss. Neither was in any hurry, and both were relishing the intimacy of the moment.

They both fell back gently onto the bed, and Kihomi could feel her lover working on the buttons of her blouse. Removing her lips momentarily to help her, the teacher could feel her love's breath against her cheek as she finished unbuttoning the top two buttons. Finally getting the article of clothing off, she once again brought her lips to Setsuna's.

As the Time Senshi's hand began to travel down her back, Kihomi broke the kiss and brought her lips to her ear.

"Sets-chan." she whispered, "I love you."

Setsuna hugged her tighter, "I know." she said, rubbing her cheek up against Kihomi's, "I know. I love you too."

Some time later, both women fell asleep in each other's arms.

--The Next Evening--

Kihomi scooted over when her love came to sit down next to her on the couch, a bowl of popcorn in the Time Senshi's hands. Raising her left arm up, she let Setsuna snuggle up next to her on the couch, resting her arm back down on her shoulders.

"So, what did I miss?" the Time Senshi asked as she lay her head on Kihomi's shoulder.

"Don't worry; we're still in episode two. The two you haven't seen yet will be coming up next."

"What did you say this show was called?" Michiru asked. She was sitting in the love seat with Haruka to the left of Setsuna and Kihomi, while Hotaru was in the single seat to the right.

"It's called 'Dr. Who.'" Setsuna answered as Kihomi fed her a popped kernel, "Kiho-chan showed it to me."

"I like it." Hotaru said, adding, "Especially the way he pretends he's foolish in order to take his enemies off their guard."

"Yeah." Haruka chimed in, "And that Romana's kind of cute too. Ouch!" the blond cried out as Michiru pinched her. "That's it; I'm getting up to get a beer. Hey Mick," she said, addressing Kihomi, "You want one too?"

The teacher smirked. Ever since the fight she'd had with the demon Babylon, Haruka had given her the nickname Mick after a hardcore wrestler named Mick Foley. Apparently, the man's greatest claim to fame was that he got smashed through tables on a routine basis and lost some of his teeth once in a steel cage match.

"Sure, I'll have one." she answered, adding with a smile, "But if you keep calling me Mick, I'm going to take a steel chair to the back of your skull."

"Promises, promises." Haruka said as she left the room. The teacher turned her attention back to Setsuna, feeding her another kernel as she kissed her on her cheek. Her love swallowed the kernel, then kissed her lightly on the lips. They both turned their attention back to the show, when the phone rang. They heard Haruka's voice faintly in the other room answering, then the blond came back in the room.

"Who was that?" Setsuna asked, pulling her head off Kihomi's shoulder.

"Usagi." Haruka answered as she passed Kihomi a cold beer, "She and the others are coming over."

"Oh?" Michiru asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine." The blond answered with a smile, "It seems that Ami and Makoto have something they want to share, and they want everyone present when they do it."

Michiru's face lit up, "Good for them." she whispered.

Kihomi, not having been around her new friends long enough to have picked up on the worst kept secret among the Senshi, was unaware of why the other women in the room looked so happy all of a sudden.

"What?" she asked, "What am I missing?"

Haruka smiled as she set her beer bottle down, "Don't worry, Mick; you'll find out."

Kihomi laughed as she shook her fist at the blond, "Doh, if I wasn't holding Sets-chan..." she joked.

"That's right," the racecar driver answered with a smirk, "Hide behind your girlfriend."

"Children, please." Michiru chided, "Some of us are trying to watch this."

Hotaru turned from the screen to look at Kihomi, "So, you ready for this weekend?"

The teacher fed Setsuna another kernel. This weekend she would begin training with the Outers in order to learn how to properly use her powers. For the history teacher, whose least favorite subject in school was always physical education, the thought of training with Haruka in her weight room was a bit daunting. Of course, the thought of getting beat up again by a future opponent was enough of an incentive to get her over her fears and into the gym.

That, and the fact that the War Senshi was not about to be called a "wuss."

"Ready as I'm ever going to be." she conceded. "So, how do you like your new history teacher?" she asked. Since she was now dating one of Hotaru's parents, it was decided that it would be best if she leave Kihomi's class in order to avoid the appearance of favoritism. Granted, the only people who knew right now were the principle and a gay male math teacher she confided into, but knowing the way rumors spread in a school it was deemed best to make the move now.

"He's alright, I guess." Hotaru answered. "By the way, I've been thinking..."

"Really?" Kihomi asked as she took a sip of her beer, "About what?"

"Well, how to address you of course." Hotaru answered, "I mean, I already have two mamas and one papa. And since you and Setsuna-mama seem pretty serious about one another, that means you're probably going to be part of the family for quite awhile." she said thoughtfully. Suddenly, her face lit up, "I've got it; Kihomi oba-san (auntie Kihomi)."

The teacher blushed at that; oba-san was a term usually reserved for old ladies. Still, she couldn't very well complain. She was actually quite touched that Setsuna's adopted daughter wanted to now adopt her as her aunt.

"Oba-san. I like that." she said. Just then the doorbell rang. Michiru stopped the DVD with the remote as Hotaru opened the door to allow Usagi and the other Inners in.

"Kiho-chan." Usagi said as Minako gave Hotaru a sisterly hug, "How are you doing?"

"Fine. Still getting used to everything, I suppose." she admitted.

"Well don't worry." Makoto put in, "We're all here to help."

Kihomi smiled warmly at that. Less than a month ago, she was depressed over her lack of friends and a social life. Now, she had a girlfriend, a new extended family of close friends, and was moonlighting as a Sailor Senshi. As Luna and Artemis entered and Rei finished setting her shoes to the side of the door, Ami nervously addressed everyone.

"I... um, well, you know me and Makoto have something we want to tell you all." she began, "And we didn't want to say anything until we knew for sure how we both felt, and..."

Makoto walked over and took her hand, "What Ami-chan is trying to say is that we're dating." she said.

Everyone put on their best surprised act and pretended to be in shock as they began congratulating the two of them. Setsuna got up to hug them, while Haruka held up her beer bottle.

"A toast." she declared, "To the happy couple."

"To the happy couple." Everyone else cheered. The Senshi of the Winds then turned to Kihomi, a wicked smile on her face.

"Anything you wish to add, Mick oba-san?"

"That's it!" the teacher shouted as she sprang from the couch. Haruka was to the front door first, sprinting around the lawn into the backyard with the teacher hot on her heels. The other Senshi all ran outside to watch the two laughing women run around the house.

"Great. Now there's two of them." Michiru groaned.

Behind the group watching the spectacle, Minako leaned over to Rei.

"That was pretty brave of Makoto and Ami, wasn't it?" she asked.

Rei turned to her and smiled, "You're not thinking of finally telling everyone about _us_, are you?"

The Senshi of love took the priestess' hand in hers, "Maybe, but not today. Let them have their day." she answered.

Everyone's fun was interrupted by an explosion coming from Tokyo's shopping district. A second soon followed. Haruka and Kihomi were no longer chasing each other as they stared with the others at the billowing black smoke rising into the sky.

"You ready?" Haruka asked as she pulled her henshin wand out.

Kihomi nodded as she pulled her wand out as well, "Let's go." she said.

Moments later the Sailor Senshi, this time joined by Sailor Minerva, raced off to face a new adventure.

--The End--

End Notes: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this little story. I appreciated all your comments, and I'm glad the story was so well received.


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